Day By Day
by violent werewolf-Dark Prince
Summary: When the Kyubi tries to save Naruto from near death, he accidentally grants him a complete look into the future. With the knowledge of what's to come, Naruto will try to change the course of history, one day at a time. InoNaruHinaSaku. MOD SAKURA BASHING!
1. Altering Envisioned

_**Hey everyone, long time no see. For the record, I haven't given up on my other stories, just haven't found any inspiration. This one is something that I randomly decided to do out of the blue. If you like it, then of course I'll continue.**_

"Talking…"

'Thinking…'

"**Kyubi talking…"**

_All italics are foreshadowing glimpse._

Chapter 1: Altering Envisioned

It was weird. Naruto had always known he'd die before becoming a genin.

"Mizuki! How could you?" Iruka-sensei had arrived too late, unfortunately. Naruto lay on the ground, a fuuma shuriken sticking out of his stomach, and pierced slightly through his back. That was beyond painful. Each breath he took burned and filled his lungs and mouth with blood. His vision started blurring. At least he'll die knowing someone tried to save him. Iruka had dived towards Naruto, but he was just a split second too late.

Wait a minute…what did Mizuki just say?

Iruka winced as Naruto sputtered. He had heard him. Mizuki had just revealed that Naruto was the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox.

The Fox? The freaking Nine Tailed Fox had been in him all along! So many things were rushing though his head at once. Was that the reason the villagers hated him? Was he the only one that didn't know? Then it finally hit him. None of it would matter. He was only minutes, probably seconds away from death. He'd just wait to find the answers in the afterlife.

"**You pathetic mortal."**

Naruto's eyes shot wide open. However, he wasn't laying in the forest. He was looking up into pure darkness. Regardless of everything else, Naruto knew what the voice belonged to. Nothing, ever, had scared him to the point where he couldn't breathe except for the mention of the Nine Tailed Demon; The Kyubi no Oni.

"**Fool, stand on your feet."** Naruto unhesitantly did as commanded. He was standing in a sewer like tunnel, with water everywhere. However, from pipes and cracks in the wall, red liquid was oozing out, making the water rise slowly. Naruto sniffed the air and grimaced.

'Is that…blood?' Seeing the liquid piling higher, he began to run. Rounding corner after corner, the liquid only seemed to drip faster and more frequently. Then he came to a dead end. A giant cage with a paper seal on the bars loomed high overhead, going to the darkness of the ceiling to seem like it went on forever.

"**Welcome to my humble abode."** The gruff voice of the Kyubi rumbled through the bars. Naruto shivered from the voice. Hearing the fox first hand was more chilling than death's touch. The fox opened one giant red eye to glare at the twelve year old. Naruto would have pissed his pants…already did. The Kyubi growled. **"Disgusting little brat! Can't you do anything right?"**

"I…"

"**You're insides even fill with your tainted blood. Is this truly the death you want?"** The Kyubi's was bordering criticism and empathy.

"NO! I don't wanna die!" Naruto cried, running towards the bars. The fox rushed forward but was repelled back with twice as much force. The seal glowed for several seconds before returning to normal.

"**Even in your feeble state, that cursed seal holds strong."** The fox laid down and glared at Naruto again. **"I thought I could escape and just let you die, but that won't be happening. You will not die here tonight! There is too much for us to accomplish together before I can have the satisfaction of watching the life drain from you."**

"What do you mean us? This is my body and I don't remember inviting you!" Naruto yelled, pointing at the fox. Knowing that the seal prevented the fox from coming closer gave him the little boost in courage he needed.

"**You have the gall to speak to me that way, but can't even fight off a few villagers or one low ranked chunin."** The fox chuckled. **"Very interesting indeed."**

Naruto was going to reply until he felt something warm drip onto his face. Wiping the thick substance, he saw that it was his own blood.

"**We've wasted too much time. If you want to live, then you will have to let go of all thought for this moment."**

"Why?" Naruto growled. "If I die here, then you die too! The world will be better off with us both gone!"

"**You fool! You will only be giving the satisfaction to those that have wanted you gone from the very beginning! Do you think if you die they will see you as a hero? Ha, that's funny! The reason they all want you dead is because of me! So even in death, my name will live on while you fade away into the nothing that you belong in!" **The fox began to think of the fact. Nah, death wasn't worth it just yet. Toying with the kits mind was fun though. Naruto groaned and gritted his teeth. No matter how he thought about it, the fox had made a legitimate point. It was just another remainder of how fucked up life was for him.

"What do I have to do?" He conceded.

"**Absorb one of my tails."**

Naruto blinked. "That's it? No, give me your soul or release me mumbo jumbo?"

"**Ignorant insect, this is no joke…though perhaps releasing me…"**

The fox seemed to laugh to itself as it started thinking of what to do first when its free. Naruto snapped his fingers.

"Uh, hello, two entities dying here."

"**Be silent. I warn you now; Your chakra is already massive and potent. By adding one tail of my own chakra, you will hold near infinite chakra. However, your control will be as worthless as you, and this is if your body can even handle such a sudden increase of that magnitude."**

"Blah, blah! If you don't do it we both die. Let's at least take a chance to live!"

"**Hmhm, arrogant and ignorant. Human and demon alike while so young."** Naruto pondered for a second why the fox sounded almost normal. That is, until the fox lashed one of its tails at the gate. The seal began to glow and spark. An electric current immediately covered the demon, making him cringe in pain. In the same instance, red sparks fired at Naruto and began to do the same thing. He cried out as the sparks began to lift him in the air. The whisker marks on his cheeks began to bleed. His eyes began to glow red. A tail began to form…

As the chakra poured into him, something else did as well. They were flashes, as vivid as day. The huge fluctuation of power was causing him to hallucinate, or so he thought.

The first thing he saw was himself wearing a leaf headband. Everything in between blurred until it showed him with his two classmates, Sakura and Sasuke. They were taking a picture with a masked, silver haired man reading a book. He could even hear what was being said. Team 7, jonin instructor Hatake Kakashi.

Though everything in between blurred, he held it all in. The little things such as which shoe he put on first every morning to how many times he ate ramen. (A constant in this vision.) Then he was on a foggy bridge, in a glass mirror dome-like jutsu. He and Sasuke were fighting someone by the name of Haku.

Another blur. A test called the chunin exams. Sand ninjas named Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou appeared. Gaara was a jinchuriki just like himself. A fight with Kiba. Someone named Neji. Someone named Lee getting seriously injured. Konoha attacked by Orochimaru. Then a pause. The Third Hokage's Funeral. The vision had been constantly speeding up.

Toad Sage Jiraiya. Learning the rasengan after being neglected by Kakashi. Meeting Sasuke's brother, Itachi. Tsunade and Shizune. Sasuke wanting to fight. Sasuke leaving. A fight at a place called the Valley of the End.

Blurring visions. Rescuing the sand shinobi Gaara from an Akatsuki member named Deidara. Another pause. Fighting Orochimaru. Another pause. Jiraiya's death. Then it all stopped completely, lingering on one vision. Konohagakure, the village hidden in leaves, was no more. In the middle of the desolate battle field, the Hyuga girl, Hinata was her name had just admitted to being in love with him. She rushes in, attacking a man with orange hair. Pein. The last thing shown was Pein…killing Hinata.

"What in the…?" Mizuki cocked an eyebrow at the scene unfolding in front of him. Iruka turned around as well and cringed. Naruto was being pushed to his feet by bubbling red chakra. Once completely up, he hunched over, letting the giant shuriken fall from his body. The chakra began to solidify, forming ears and one long tail.

"Naruto…" Iruka stuttered.

"It's still me, Iruka-sensei." Naruto's voice sounded tired, and older. His eyes, now feral and red, lingered on the ground as if holding back tears.

"**Go. Do what you must, until it is my turn**.**"** The fox slowly laid down, panting heavily as the tail that he had gave to Naruto began to blow away as dust.

Iruka looked on, both amazed and horrified.

"You really are a demon!" Mizuki called, drawing his second giant shuriken.

"Naruto, get-" Before Iruka could finish, Naruto had become a red blur. He was right in front of Mizuki.

"You're the demon. Betraying the village for Orochimaru."

Mizuki jumped back and threw the weapon. Naruto easily smacked it away with a chakra claw. Then he soared at the traitor. Spinning, he slammed a chakra tail into Mizuki's gut, making him plummet towards the ground. Landing on a tree for only a split second, Naruto gracefully leaped into the sky until he looked like he was floating in front of the moon. A hand above his head, he turned head first as he began to fall towards the downed chunin. Chakra began to form and spin in his out stretched palm.

"RASENGAN!"

The ground shook and wind blew out in all directions from the impact. Iruka covered his eyes as the wind blew dust up. As it cleared, he looked to see Naruto standing over an unconscious Mizuki.

"Naruto, you…" He was once again cut off as Naruto coughed up blood, the wounds from earlier gushing, and then collapsed to the ground.

* * *

_Beyond the heart and mind, a calling far greater than foretold in legend..._

"_Will I be able to find you if I come looking?"_

"…_I don't know."_

"_Will…you want to be found?"_

"…"

"_Why then? Why did you choose us? Why make us suffer this heartbreak?"_

"_Because no one else deserves to hate me."_


	2. Rippling Thesis

_**Yes, I know. This chapter is long over due! However, I've had little to no computer access this summer. As of now, I'm going to be starting college soon, so I will be having much more access to computer via the library. So here it is, the next chapter of a story that I just randomly thought up!**_

Chapter 2: Rippling Thesis

Naruto took in a deep breath, eyes opening wide. The sharp smell of medicine, alcohol, and hypodermic needles filled his lungs, making his eyes water.

'Oh great.' He thought. 'Hell is an eternal hospital.'

"Naruto, you're awake!" The voice of his former teacher, Iruka greeted. Before he could even turn his head, he was being crushed in a hug by the young teacher.

"Okay, so I take it this isn't hell. What's going on?"

"You've been in a coma for a week Naruto! You haven't been hurt that bad since you were six..."

Naruto's eyes dilated. 'Again?' He thought remorsefully. "How..."

"After you knocked out Mizuki, you succumbed to your wounds. I brought you straight here."

Naruto's eyes widened again. He had beat Mizuki...which meant all those things he saw...no, it couldn't be.

"Look. You're friends brought you stuff." Iruka said, drawing Naruto's attention to the cards and gifts on the table by his bed.

"Wha...what?" Naruto picked up a large bouquet of flowers.

"Those are from Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji."

"Ino too?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Yeah, she works with her parents in their flowershop."

Naruto shrugged. "She's never cared about me. I bet Shikamaru and Chouji made her do it."

Iruka frowned. Ino may have disliked Naruto in the academy, but he had seen genuine concern when she had come to drop of the flowers. He was understanding just how much the little stuff people did affected Naruto.

"That one must be from Kiba!" Naruto chuckled. It was a large bone with "Bark well soon!" carved into it. Then Naruto unintentionally teared up. A small brown box sat on the side of the table, almost hidden by everything else. He recognized the box way too clearly for comfort. It was the healing herbs Hinata had given him during the chunin exams.

"Who's that one from?" He asked, only to confirm what he knew was becoming a living nightmare.

"That one is actually from Hinata Hyuga. She's the quiet girl that sits in the back of class all the time." Naruto slowly began to cry, making Iruka panic.

"H-hey! Naruto what's wrong?"

What was he supposed to say? Oh nothing, just seeing the one person who could have given me the life I wanted killed in a vision of the future! Naruto instantly stopped crying and looked up blankly, mouth agape. He had seen into the future...

"You okay?" Iruka asked, checking his temperature.

"I...I'm fine..." It was more than a statement. He was completely fine. Outside of feeling ready to run around konoha 5000 times, that wasn't natural. But he had just realized what he was presented with. 'I can stop it...I can save Hinata-chan! No, I can save everyone! I can...'

"Naruto, there's something I want to ask you." Iruka snapped him from his thoughts.

Naruto shook his head and looked up. Seeing the distraught look on his former sensei's face, he knew what it was about.

"What...what happened in the forest last week-"

"I know Iruka-sensei." He sighed. " I guess...learning about the fox so suddenly kind of made me upset, and my anger pulled me into where the fox is sealed. Then it gave me chakra to stop Mizuki."

"That's not good!"

"No! It was because the fox knows if I die, it dies too! If it would have given me too much chakra, my body would have exploded and we both would have died. If it hadn't given me enough, then I probably would've bled to death before you got me here."

Iruka's eyebrows scrunched. Naruto was way too nonchalant with his answers. Naruto saw the hesitation in his face and quickly decided to change the subject.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, if I've been out for a week, then haven't the genin teams been picked already?" Not only was this a change of subject, but if the teams turn out the way he thinks they are, then those visions were real, and he had gotten a chance that no one else probably had.

"Yeah that's right! Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji are a squad ironically, just like their parents. Shino Aburame, Hinata, and Kiba are on a squad too."

Naruto paled and got excited all at the same time. He was scared because some creepy shit had happened to him, but excited about being given the chance to change...well, everything.

"Oh, and I've got a surprise for you!" Iruka pulled out a small scroll and handed it to Naruto. Naruto unraveled the scroll and a seal greeted him. Biting his thumb, he ran it over the center. Iruka's eyes widened once again.

"Naruto, how do you know how to work that blood seal?"

Naruto froze. "Uh...I read up on it at the library. This design looks familiar but I don't remember from where." Naruto knew the seal because Jiraiya had given him several scrolls with the same seal. The only problem was that Naruto still didn't get why his blood worked on that certain seal and no one elses. From reading up, he did learn that blood seals were for family members only, so the seal had to have been created by one of his parents. Jiraiya had never told him who it was though...

'Odd...' Iruka thought. 'Hokage-sama said this seal was from the Fourth Hokage and that he had taken extra care not to let Naruto see it. So how did he know?'

"Whoa! A...a hitai-ate! And it's black! Wait, so this means..."

"Yep, you're a ninja Naruto! The Hokage thought that we should reward you after stopping a traitor." Iruka was happy to see Naruto enthusiastic. Technically, it was the only thing he had done since waking up that made Iruka remember that he was still just a child.

"Oh...so jiji knows about what happened?"

"Yeah..." Iruka sighed. "But he understands Naruto. He actually hopes you aren't too mad with him for not telling you about the Kyubi soon."

Naruto knew he couldn't be mad. Not while knowing what could happen to the Third during the chunin exams.

"Oh, and you're on Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

Iruka thought Naruto would have been ecstatic about being on a team with Sakura, or at least upset about being with Sasuke. Instead, all Naruto did was nod once in acknowledgement and looked out the window.

'Something's definitely wrong.' Iruka thought to himself.

Naruto on his part was thinking of the future with his team. Now 100 percent sure the visions were real, he knew that not one person on his team liked him at the moment. Oddly enough, Sasuke was probably the only one who'd actually have respect for him. According to his vision, Sakura was still in her extreme-Sasuke-fangirl stage and wouldn't be getting out of it for a is, unless he did something about it. And Kakashi-sensei was going to think he was incapable of being a ninja until after the chunin exams.

Now thinking about it, it really hurt. To have the people he considered family look down on him like that. But that was just it. It hadn't happened yet. They weren't his family yet, but he had all the feelings and emotions of himself in the future. That was very large, very scary drawback.

"Naruto, I'm going to get going, so I'll make sure to let everyone know you're better, alright?"

"Yeah, thanks Iruka-sensei."

As Iruka left, Naruto began to think about his options. Of course he couldn't tell anyone about the future thing. They'd think he was crazy, or worse, controlled by the Kyubi. So he had to act like he was still an ignorant genin. Okay, that wouldn't be hard, seeing as his chakra was indeed shit. He knew the only reason he was able to form a rasengan against Mizuki was because of the fox's chakra still transferring to his body. What had Jiraiya called it in one of his vision? A cloak? The Kyubi's veil? Something around there.

Then came the question of how he was going to get strong enough to keep some of the worse things from happening. He wouldn't be meeting Jiraiya until the second stage of the chunin exams and Kakashi was going to be a prick for a bit. Solo training it was, and lucky for him, he remembered every single last one of his techniques. Learning them with the small control he had and his twelve year old body mass was going to suck to hell though.

He wanted to change other people too though. One thing for certain, he had to get Sakura's head out of Sasuke's ass and fast. That was going to be a challenge. Maybe he could get Ino to become a better ninja too, that way she and her team would have a better chance at preventing Asuma's death. Neji definitely needed work, or at least a friend. Naruto was not looking forward to hearing all his rants on fate. Which brought him to his biggest concern. Hinata was the first person he needed to change. He'd be damned if he had to watch Neji hurt her again.

'So wait, what's the first thing we did?' Naruto thought back. Then he slyly grinned. 'The bell test, if Kakashi-sensei hasn't done it already. And I know the perfect way to pass it...' He chuckled evilly, a fox grin on his face as he remembered the second time he had taken that test along with Sakura.

'Now all that's left is to make a clone and sneak out of here!' Naruto flared one handsign.

Downstairs, a receptionist was enjoying the quiet day in Konoha. The sun was shining and she had just gotten a visit from her mercenary sister, Nani Aiko. Things were going very well that day...and she knew her luck wasn't that good. With that thought, the building began to tremble. She held her head and sighed. She loved Naruto, but one of those days, she was going to be the one to put him in the hospital. That was her only thought before an ocean of clones flooded the building.

'Okay, that didn't go as planned. I knew my control was fucked, but that's just ridiculous.' Naruto had slipped out, using his clone ocean as cover. He sighed as he looked around the village. Everyone who looked at him was scowling, as if he were some disease-infected mutt. Some of the faces he recognized from his vision but none of real significance. A feeling of dread seemed to settle on him. Up until then, he was able to deal with the hatred, at least slightly. But thanks to that glimpse into the future, he knew what happiness and contentment felt like. Now he felt like he would be working to achieve that goal all over again. It didn't feel like he saw into the future. It felt like he had been sent into the past. The only difference, however, was that he didn't know what was absolute, and what was transient.

With his head down, but senses up, he began to run towards his apartment. His hearing was sharper. It must have been from the Kyubi's chakra. He was a bit faster too, nothing dramatic though. He felt a tingle at the back of his skull. Preternatural sense? He could literally feel the rhythmic beats of peoples hearts. Faintly, their emotions were portrayed. However, it was only for a moment, as if only happening while he was dreaming. Looking up, he found that he had made it home.

'That was...interesting?' He thought as he prepared to open his door. He stopped, hand outstretched only inches from the door. Written in red paint on his door was:

"STAY DEAD DEMON!"

Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat. That one actually hurt. Looking at the ground, he blindly opened the door. He accidentally gripped the knob too hard and crushed it.

'Shit, the foxes chakra must have just finished integrating. This is going to be bad.'

Going into his room, he took a quick glance around. He chuckled, remembering the first time Sakura had come in. She had seen a cockroach, then tripped and fell into a bowl of who-knows-what. Scratch that, that never happened. Naruto held his head in frustration. His present was still going. It made him wish he could just jump into those visions, into the future. But of course, time travel was impossible...or was it?

Kami had played a cruel joke on him. Like a parent showing a child a present they really wanted, but not allowing them to play with it until Christmas. He flopped onto his bed, only to grimace and lean back up. A strand of something gooey and sticky connected his bed and back.

'Yeah, no more procrastinating; I really need to clean this place up.'

Iruka knocked on the door to the office of the Third, a tired expression adorning his face. Things were about to get complicated, he knew, and he didn't want anymore headaches. Receiving permission to enter, Iruka slunk into the office, being greeted with an extra visitor. Iruka rose an eyebrow.

"Iruka, Kakashi, I wish to apologize for calling you on such short notice."

Both men nodded.

"I've already explained things to Iruka, but I'm sure you already know that this involves Naruto, am I right Kakashi?"

"Yes sir." Kakashi replied stoically.

"Also, forgive me for having you decieve Naruto Iruka, however, we don't want him in a fragile state of mind."

"I understand, Hokage-sama. And he's awaken already. If I know Naruto, he's probably escaped from the hospital already!" Iruka chuckled. The Hokage smirked but Kakashi just seemed uninterested.

"Is there something on your mind Kakashi?" The Third asked, leaning back with his pipe.

"Just awaiting your orders, Lord Hokage."

Iruka frowned. Kakashi wasn't one to look at Naruto and only see the Nine Tails, but after last week, he wasn't so sure.

"Very well then." The Hokage cleared his throat. "Because of the incident involving Mizuki, we have confirmed that the Nine Tailed Fox is awakening inside of Naruto, and much quicker than we anticipated. From Iruka's report, I don't think it will have much of an effect on Naruto at the moment, however, because he was able to talk to the demon, he will be needing constant surveillance.

"Surveillance? Don't you think that goes against Naruto's trust?" Iruka argued.

"The safety of the village is more important than the privacy of a child." Kakashi stated, not even glancing at him.

"I have taken deep consideration of this matter Iruka. I have only chosen you and Kakashi for the job."

Iruka couldn't reply and sighed. He was the one that had to lie to Naruto and tell him everything was alright, and now he had to spy on him for any signs of the Kyubi? If Naruto ever found out, Iruka knew he would never trust anyone ever again. But even the Third knew of that risk, and was willing to take it. No matter how much he cared for Naruto, the safety of Konoha was priority.

"So what do we do now?" Iruka asked dejectedly.

"Naruto hasn't met his new team yet. Why don't you go introduce them Kakashi?"

"Right away sir." The masked jonin dissappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I understand your concerns for Naruto, Iruka, but this is a matter dealing with the Kyubi and I cannot afford to take any chances. You know this very well."

"Yeah, I do..." Iruka stated coldly, the scar on his face reflecting his darkening mood.

Naruto looked around his apartment, sleeves rolled up and mop in his hand. Everything was sparkling.

'Sheesh, this is what I put my clones through when I have them clean up? No wonder they're so rude sometimes.'

He smirked to himself. Regardless of that thought, he felt pretty damn good for someone who had a hole in them a week ago and was in a coma until that morning. As he went to lay back down, a knock sounded at his door.

'Won't be ashamed to let anyone in here anymore!' He happily opened the door with a, "Hey, how's it..."

He froze, slowly looking up into the lazy eye of Konoha's copycat ninja.

"Eh...creepy cyclops."

A quick, instant second release of ki was followed by Kakashi's eye smile.

"Uh, how's it going? I'm Kakashi Hatake, your jonin instructor."

"Sweet, I have a cyclops as a sensei!"

Another release of ki.

"Uh, no, Naruto, I'm not a cyclops."

"Then why is your eye covered?"

"That's a secret."

"Then why do you have a mask?"

"That's also a secret."

"And why-"

"Naruto, do you want to go on a mission?"

"Hell Yeah!"

"Your first mission is to get to training ground 7 without saying a single word! Think you can do it?"

"Of course! I mean-" He nodded. Then he darted off towards the training ground. Kakashi lazily glanced as the blonde ran.

'He'll never make it to the main road silently.' As soon as Kakashi thought that, Naruto screamed.

'I think I laid it on too thick...' Naruto thought as he jogged towards the training ground. Smirking, he threw his head back and howled. 'Okay, now I laid it on too thick.'

He was only trying to keep himself occupied. If he didn't then he'd start thinking about the future, and he really didn't feel like being depressed at the moment. Besides, he needed training and what better way to do it than to mooch. Technically, he didn't actually need Kakashi to teach him anything. He just needed tips. He arrived at the training ground and found both Sakura and Sasuke waiting.

"Oh great, Naruto's here." He heard Sakura sarcastically call. He knew that was going to get old, real quick. As he expected, Sasuke ignored them both all together. Naruto kept his smile, only to look the part but didn't speak to either one of them. Sakura breaking down and Sasuke leaving the village were both all too vivid in his mind. Instead, he walked over to a tree, kicked it, and caught a falling leaf.

"What are you doing dobe?" Sasuke asked, only interested in the fact that Naruto didn't latch onto Sakura like a security blanket.

"I'm going to practice chakra control until sensei arrives."

"Baka, he could show up at any minute!" Sakura yelled.

'Not likely...' Naruto thought.

Sasuke stared a few seconds as Naruto put the leaf on his forehead and took a meditative stance. Only two seconds in and the leaf blew to pieces.

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted.

"That's one of the easiest exercises ever! You can't do anything can you?" Sakura snickered.

Sasuke walked over and sat down next to Naruto, putting a lear on his forehead. The leaf stayed in place. Naruto huffed.

"Nobody asked you to do it!"

Sasuke smirked. "Calm down. That's why you can't do it."

Naruto blinked. Did Sasuke just give him advice? Okay, now that had never happened in his visions. Maybe it was because Naruto hadn't rushed into the field all obnoxiously. Could little things like that really change the future?

"Try it again." Sasuke said, still holding his own leaf. Naruto nodded and picked up anther one. Placing it on his forehead, he relaxed.

'I should have done this a while ago.' He began to meditate like he had done when training for Toad Sage mode. The leaf seemed to be vibrating but it stayed in place.

"I can feel that you're still putting way too much chakra into it, but at least you're getting the hang of it."

Sakura stared slack jaw at the scene. For some reason her brain couldn't really process 'Her Sasuke-kun' and 'Being nice to Naruto' in the same sentence.

"Don't think this means I like you or anything. I just don't want anyone slowing us down on missions."

Naruto smirked. That was most likely a partially true statement. He knew Sasuke was still arrogant and had his Uchiha pride on full display. Maybe he was enjoying the fact that he had to teach Naruto something so remedial. It didn't matter. At least it was a change from the Uchiha being openly snobbish.

"You're releasing your chakra too fast."

Naruto's eyes widened, making the leaf burst into pieces again. Okay, now that one was really unexpected.

"Wha...what did you say Sakura-chan?"

"Baka, don't make me repeat myself. Slow down your chakra flow and it'll be easier. Not just for the leaf, but in control all together. Mizuki-sensei taught us that remember?"

Naruto looked down and Sakura clasped her hands over her mouth. "Naruto, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. Thanks for the advice Sakura-chan."

He once again grabbed a leaf and took his Toad Sage meditative position. He took in a deep breath and began to expel chakra. The leaf stayed in place.

'Wow, he did it in one try! I didn't know Naruto was a fast learner!' Sakura thought, a little proud that her advice had worked.

"Keep going and in about 200 hundred years you'll be able to give me a challenge." Sasuke called laying back and relaxing.

"Not even then Sasuke-kun!" Sakura declared. Naruto smirked. What he had just experienced with his team was unique, even if it only lasted a few minutes. For a second, Naruto thought he had presumptially judged the two, but as of now, only time would tell. He was able to practice the unswayed leaf technique for another hour, Sakura and Sasuke throwing in advice here and there. Kakashi arrived, seeming more happy than he was earlier. Naruto looked in his hand and saw a different book.

'Ero-sennin's book came out today? This is perfect!' Naruto thought deviously.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're late!" Sakura yelled. After a few seconds of silence, everyone looked at Naruto. He rose an eyebrow.

"What? I got something on my face?" He asked.

"Uh...no, it's just..." Sakura didn't know what she was trying to say.

"I think she expected you to yell too. It's weird." Sasuke admitted. Naruto cursed. He had yelled the first time Kakashi showed up late. This time didn't look like it had a positive effect, seeing as the three had gotten a little suspicious.

On the other hand, Sasuke looked at Naruto and actually didn't see a loser...completely. At least he seemed like he was going to take being a ninja seriously.

Sakura scratched her head. She had been around Naruto for over an hour and hadn't hit him, nor had the urge to kill him once. He hadn't been begging her to go out on a date or anything. Her fist were actually feeling pretty soft for once. She wondered what was making him act so refined.

Kakashi eyed Naruto, slightly suspicious of his behavior. But, if Naruto was being calm, that meant he wouldn't distract him while he read Icha Icha Oasis, the fifth installment of the series. In the last book, Icha Icha Desertion, the main character had found out his sister was kidnapped by the woman he loved, and he had to get information-

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, snap out of it!" Naruto called, waving a hand in the Jonin's face.

"If our teacher spaces out like that, we're done for on the field." Sakura groaned. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Kakashi ignored the comments and eye smiled.

"Alright, since Naruto was the only one not here with us, he's going to be the only one to introduce himself." That was just an excuse to quickly get back to reading his book in privacy. "Go on Naruto. State your name, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and goals for the future."

Naruto faced his team. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! My hobbies are training and meditating, I like Ichiraku's Ramen only, people who don't judge others without getting to know them, Hina-...My dislikes are people who only see the frame instead of the picture. My goals for the future...to become the greatest Hokage and protect everyone from anything that could ever happen."

All three looked wide eyed at the blonde shinobi. That wasn't what they had expected at all. Sakura looked down, feeling guilty about her declarations several days ago.

_My name is Haruno Sakura. My hobbies are reading and shopping. I like Sasuke-kun and Ino-pig when she's not being a jerk. My dislikes are Naruto-baka! My goals for the future are to become a great medical ninja and...(looks at Sasuke and giggles.)"_

She didn't know if it was too soon to start seeing Naruto differently, but she did know there was much more to him than she had initially thought. 'People who only see the frame instead of the picture...'

"Well...that was interesting. Okay! Now that we're all acquainted, time to destroy your confidence!"

"Huh?" All three genin rose an eyebrow.

"You're not really ninjas yet!" Kakashi stated cheerfully.

"What? What do you mean we're not ninjas?" Sakura shouted. Naruto just folded his arms, knowing where this was going.

"The academy test was only to weed out those who have no potential as a ninja whatsoever. We jonin give the real test to determine which of the passing teams are ready to begin their duties as shinobi or not. So, tomorrow you guys should prepare for happy fun-time! Meet back here at 6 a.m sharp, and don't eat anything or you're most definitely going to vomit." The silver-haired jonin gave a half-hearted salute and then vanished. Sakura looked horrified while Sasuke had a pensive look on his face. Naruto held in his laughter.

'Kakashi-sensei was...is a great actor.'

He walked back over to the tree and began to practice the unswayed leaf technique once more, now with leaves on his forehead and the bottom of his palms.

"You're going to practice all chakra control?" Sakura asked.

"Yep! If I don't get better at control, I can't remember...er, I mean learn any cool new jutsu that Kakashi-sensei may teach us." Naruto rolled his eyes at the end of the sentence. 'As if that lazy bastard is gonna teach us much of anything.'

Sasuke turned and began walking away. Sakura ran after him without hesitation.

'I understand Sasuke's not as bad as he's going to turn out to be, and it might be harder because of this, but I still need to pull Sakura away from him, even if just a little each day.'

Naruto dropped the thought. He needed complete focus if he wanted to improve his chakra control in a timely fashion. Knowing discipline from training with toads, Naruto was able to sit perfectly still until night had fallen. He hadn't moved in six hours.

"Amazing!" Naruto's eyes shot open and he was once again looking at his teammates. Sakura was smiling, being the one who had yelled. Sasuke only held a smirk on his face.

"I hate to admit it, but that is impressive. For a dobe."

"What's that supposed to mean, teme!" Naruto retorted, standing.

"It's a compliment baka! We came back a few times to see if you were still here after I came back to get my scarf. You didn't move at all did you?" Sakura seemed a little too excited.

"No...why?"

"That means you have potential to get better! You won't be dead weight after all!"

Naruto didn't know whether to be insulted or gratified. Eh, coming from Sakura at this point, he might as well be gratified.

"Being able to perform a chakra control exercise for long periods of time, even that one, means you've mastered it. Your control should be at least a little above a normal academy student by now."

'Great, so I'm at least better than Konohamaru and everyone else that didn't graduate from the academy!' He thought sarcastically. Well, if his control was past academy level, that meant he could probably make a few solid bunshins.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" A poof of smoke appeared next to Naruto and out stepped four perfect clones.

"Good job Naruto!" Sakura congratulated him. Naruto looked at the clone, finally looking at himself. The whisker marks on his cheeks were a little darker and his hair seemed a tad bit spikier. Maybe even a little longer too. In honesty, he looked a few months older, though it wasn't too noticeable. Too bad it did nothing to his height.

'Now that I think about it, what happened to the fox? I haven't heard from it since...I got it's tail...great, now I have to add see the fox to my agenda. But first, time to break out some of Jiraiya-sensei's old training techniques. By tomorrow, I'll be back at chunin exam strength! Then, maybe I'll be able to stop Orochimaru from killing the Third! Just wait, Uzumaki Naruto is going to change history!'

* * *

_"After everything we've been through...you're just going to throw it away?"_

_"I'll never throw it away. My future, my past, I'll take it all with me."_

_"And what will we have? What will you leave us?"_

_"..."_

_"You said that no matter what happened we could always call on you. You said you'd be here for us, forever!"_

_"...Forever is eternity. I will be there for you, all of you, for all eternity."_

_

* * *

_

**Okay, because of the circumstances that prevented me from posting this chapter sooner, I'm going to give a sneak peek at the next chapter of Day by Day.**

_"So I see that all three of you decided to take the evaluation. But there is one more catch though. You have two choices. You can forfeit right now and go back to the academy to try and become ninja next year."_

_He paused for dramatic build up, watching the three pre-teens faces show now sign of quitting. _

_"Or if you take this test and fail, you will be denied entrance into the Konohagakure shinobi corps forever."_

_Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Naruto stared blankly ahead. If he was right, then no one would say anything. However, something's had already changed. He didn't know what to expect at the moment. A quick glance at his teammates gave him his answer. Sasuke looked disgruntled but Naruto knew his Uchiha pride would never let him back down. Sakura, however, looked a bit too nervous. Naruto's worse fears came to life as he saw her swallow and begin speaking._

_"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should resign until next year. Naruto isn't ready for this yet!"_

**_And that's all you get for free. Already in the typing process for this chapter, and since I'll be at this library more, you can expect faster updates. Until later, IKITO!_**


	3. Transient Overture

**Okay, I've decided to plan what I do from now on. Since I got this update up quickly, the chapter is going to be shorter. There will also not be a preview at the end. However, the next chapter will be as long or longer than the previous chapter and there will be a preview at the end! Basically, the odd numbered chapters will be short, and the even numbered chapters will be long, plus have a preview of the following chapter. All chapters will have the foreshadowing glimpse however. Soo...here's the next chapter of a story that I randomly thought up!**

Chapter 3: Transient Overture

"So what did you think of Naruto?" Iruka asked his gray haired friend, leaning on the side of the Hokage building. He had awaited Kakashi's arrival so they could enter the building together.

"Hello to you too, Iruka-san." The jonin greeted lazily and put away the Icha Icha book. "Actually, it wasn't at all what I expected. He seemed mature, much more than he was a few weeks ago, or yesterday morning for that matter."

"How so?" Iruka asked, raising an eyebrow as they entered the building.

"It's a possibility that something happened between his trip from his apartment to the training ground but I'm guessing he's just showing how good of an actor he is."

He explained everything that had happened the day prior, from Naruto's apartment to dismissing them at the training ground. Iruka listened, nodding his head at several comments.

'Naruto has been acting strange lately, but so far it doesn't seem for the worse. He hasn't done anything much differently than usual either.'

"It wasn't just because of that." Kakashi continued. "When he first opened the door, I saw the same goofy prankster that we're used to. But once he saw me, his eyes changed. It was only for a split second, but I saw so much. They were still the eyes of an adolescent, but one that had seen bloodshed, had known carnage and pain, and even war. Grief, satisfaction, everything except love was there. And I saw it without even using my sharingon." Kakashi felt a chill down his spine. "But they weren't the eyes of the Kyubi. I still felt warmth in those eyes."

Kakashi had felt more than warmth. He felt accusations, but he didn't know of what. Even more confusing, he felt forgiveness.

"In any case, I feel that nothings wrong at all." Iruka stated obviously, making the copycat nin narrow his eyes. Then he sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Maybe he's just trying to cope with the knowledge of the Kyubi. Which is pretty much what you want me to say to the Hokage right?"

"I just think that a little more observation is needed before we can really say anything that will affect Naruto's future." For a split second, Iruka felt weird saying that. He didn't know why, but it felt like he had gone light headed for a second.

"You're right. Besides, it'd be far too troublesome to fill out all the paper work that would come with it."

"You've been hanging around Shikaku Nara a little too much." Iruka said with a chuckle as they both entered the Third's office.

**Training Grounds**

'Okay, not what I expected to see early in the morning.'

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he entered the training grounds, seeing Sasuke helping Sakura with kunai target practice.

'Is it me, or has Sasuke been in a good mood for the past two days…'

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura called waving.

"He-" Naruto winced and held his head as a sudden migraine stuck him.

"_Just one little lapse of judgment and they're acting like jerks again!"_

Naruto stood confused for a second. Was that…another vision? It was fuzzy this time though. And he hadn't seen it originally.

"You okay dobe?" Sasuke asked, Sakura actually looking concerned as well.

"Yeah…I guess…" He walked over and sat under a tree. "Maybe all that training last night wore me out."

"All what training?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I started a new training regimen last night. I was up until four trying it out."

"You shouldn't have done that! What if you're too tired for the test now?" Sakura scolded, but not as harsh as usual.

"No problem, I feel fine! Besides, I can just take a quick nap now before Kakashi-sensei shows up."

"What if he comes while you're sleeping?" Sasuke asked, actually thinking of doing the same thing.

"I have a hunch that yesterday is going to be a repeating factor."

As Naruto said, Kakashi showed up an hour later, and by then, all three genin had got in an extra 45 minutes of sleep. The masked nin looked over his team, seeing all three with confident smirks.

"So I see that all three of you decided to take the evaluation. But there is one more catch though. You have two choices. You can forfeit right now and go back to the academy to try and become ninja next year."

He paused for dramatic build up, watching the three pre-teens faces show now sign of quitting.

"Or if you take this test and fail, you will be denied entrance into the Konohagakure shinobi corps forever."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Naruto stared blankly ahead. If he was right, then no one would say anything. However, somethings had already changed. He didn't know what to expect at the moment. A quick glance at his teammates gave him his answer. Sasuke looked disgruntled but Naruto knew his Uchiha pride would never let him back down. Sakura, however, looked a bit too nervous. Naruto'sworse fears came to life as he saw her swallow and begin speaking.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should resign until next year. Naruto isn't ready for this yet!"

Sasuke's eyes grew wide, and out of sheer desperation, he did the unthinkable; showed emotion.

"That's bullshit! Naruto's ready, and so are we!" He screamed passionately.

The group grew silent, both Naruto and Sakura's jaw hitting the ground as they stared at the raven haired boy. A tiny blush crossed Sasuke's face and he folded his arms, turning away.

"Just saying…" He murmured. After the shock subsided, Sakura tried to put together a coherent sentence.

"B-but, Sasuke-kun-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto spoke up, eyes on the ground and fist clenched. "Last night. Didn't you say that I wouldn't be dead weight?"

Sakura paused. "I…I meant…" She wanted to say in the future but for some reason she couldn't. For one, she knew it wasn't true, and after hearing the conviction in Naruto's voice, knew he was ready. Her love for Sasuke, and always comparing people to him made Naruto seem weak in her eyes again, and now she was regretting it.

"Well, whatever. Seeing as none of you quit, it's time to start the exercise." Kakashi spoke nonchalantly. The three genin tensed, and Naruto gritted his teeth.

'I wanted to show off a little before trying to implement the plan, but maybe now that they think I'm the weakest again, I can use this to get out of suspicion with Kakashi-sensei. The way he keeps glaring at me makes it obvious to see that he knows something is up…Besides, I don't have a second to waste, let alone a year.'

Kakashi explained the test, Naruto sighing in relief that it was the same bell test as before. He knew they wouldn't actually have to get the bells to pass, but it would be a good achievement if they could. From the training regimens that Naruto had done the night before, he knew that he was almost at his strength when he beat Neji, but not quite. He wanted to be able to do it without having to feel like he needed the fox. As it was, he had found out that he couldn't activate the fox's chakra anymore anyway, but by the way his body felt, he was running on one tail of chakra, constantly. That meant that the fox was now an eight tailed bijuu, and he was now in the training process to become naturally as strong as he was when he faced Sasuke at the Valley of the End.

"Are you three ready?" Kakashiasked, the bells dangling on his side but his book still in hand. Naruto'seyes widened. Somethingin his mind was tellinghim to move. He didn't want to, but it was like his feet were starting to pull forward on their own.

Naruto suddenly rushed at Kakashi and threw a kick. The jonin easily ducked, blocked the next one, and then twisted his arm as he threw a punch.

"Naruto, haven't you heard the term, Only Fools Rush In?" Kakashi was holding a kunai to his back. "I didn't say start yet."

"Naruto, you baka! I knew you were still an idiot! What if Kakashi-sensei failed us for that stunt!" Sakura yelled, inner Sakura screaming agreement.

Sasuke sighed. "Once a dobe, always a dobe."

'Just one little lapse of judgment and they're acting like jerks again…Wait! That's what my vision was! But…then that means I had a vision of the altered future? What the hell is going on here?'

_Some things just aren't meant to change…_ A voice whispered out of nowhere.

'Wh-what? Who said that?' No reply came, and Naruto was left to ponder the statement.

"Okay, so if it's alright with Naruto, we can begin...now." Kakashi released Naruto, who jumped back with his team, all spreading out and hiding in bushes.

'Tactical, for genin, but not going to help if their plans collide.' Kakashi thought. He was right as well, as several attempts from each genin seemed to thwart one another. Naruto was letting some time pass to make it easier to sway Sasuke and Sakura. From all the failed attempts, their morale would be down. He was also avoiding Kakashi's 1000 years of pain. After Sakura's kunai were intercepted by Sasuke's fireballs for the third time, Naruto began to think of how to make his move.

'Alright, let's see...' He could sense Sakura's chakra several yards away and moving swiftly in one direction towards Kakashi. 'This must be when he puts her in that genjutsu.' Sensing around even more, he felt Sasuke sitting in a tree, obviously overlooking the two. 'Give him a show, I guess.' Naruto dashed in the direction Sakura was going, moving much swifter than a genin should've been able to. He reached her moments before a battered and bloody Sasuke came out of the bushes. Her eyes dilated but Naruto only glared, coming up behind her.

"OH NO! SASUKE-KUN!" She wailed and was about to pass out until.

"Sakura-chan, get a hold of yourself!" Naruto shouted loudly.

"S-Sakura...Naruto...help...me!" Sasuke reached out to them. Sakura didn't pass out due to Naruto's yell, and prepared to run to him.

"Kai!" Naruto called and the Sasuke vanished. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

"Wha? A genjutsu?" She said looking around.

"Of course it was! How come you didn't notice that Sakura-chan?" He was actually accusing her but made it sound like he honestly wanted to know. Sakura blushed, and scratched the back of her head.

"Uh, that's because...I knew, but...I was going to trick Kakashi-sensei! Yeah, that's it!" She chuckled nervously. 'Fall for it, please.' She thought in her mind, not wanting to be laughed at by Naruto of all people.

"Eh, sure. C'mon, let's find the real Sasuke! I think I have a plan! Oh, and Sakura, behind you." Sakura was going to ask what type of plan could he possibly think of, however, Kakashi loomed over the rose haired girl. She turned around slowly, and looked up at her sensei.

"How are you doing Sakura?" He asked politely.

"Uh...heheh, fine?" She stuttered absolutely scared shitless that her sensei was able to sneak up on her without a single sound.

'Oh for the love of...' Naruto rolled his eyes and created a clone, sending it rushing at the two. It jumped over Sakura's head and kicked Kakashi in the face just as Naruto ran up and scooped Sakura into his arms and began to head towards where Sasuke was watching.

"What the hell do you think you're doing! Put me down!" She yelled, bopping him on the head. As she rose her fist to hit him again, a loud explosion sounded behind them and wind blew around the area. Her eyes widened as she glanced back.

"So..." She began. "That Kakashi-sensei was a clone?"

Naruto nodded.

"And said clone just exploded?"

One more nod.

"Oh." She paused. Then she fainted in his arms.

Naruto reached Sasuke, setting Sakura down gently at the base of the tree. Sasuke dropped down next to them.

"How'd you know that was a clone of Kakashi-sensei?" He immediately asked. Naruto had already thought of the excuse, but could only hope Sasuke would fall for it.

"I didn't! I just wanted to hold Sakura-chan and that was the perfect chance!" He threw in a chuckle at the end to make it seem legit. Sasuke only narrowed his eyes at him before dismissing it with a 'hmph'.

"Hey, but I do have a plan, but it's going to take all three of us!"

"You have a plan?" Sasuke was about to make a snide remark until he remembered the day Naruto tied him up and then henged into him to try to get a kiss from Sakura. Better to go along with it. But he would get revenge for that later. "What do you have in mind?"

Naruto's fox smile gave Sasuke shivers. "Alright, wake Sakura-chan up and..."

Kakashi sat in one of the trees of the forest, still reading his beloved Icha Icha Oasis. The main character was about to enter the portal that lead to a hidden oasis where his sexy little sister was being held captive. He looked up momentarily.

'Hmm...It's gotten quiet. What are they-' He dodged out the way as several kunaistruck the tree where he had currently been sitting. As he touched the ground, his eyes widened as he came face to face with Sasuke.

"Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu!" Sasuke intentionally fired the large flame slightly towards Kakashi's left. He smirked as he saw Kakashi jump right. 'Bingo!'

Kakashi landed right on a vine trip-wire. Eye blankly white, he looked up. 'I never thought I'd say this, but...' He used substitution with a stray log several feet away just as a giant boulder slammed down where he had tripped the trap. 'These kids are gonna kill me!'

"I have you now Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's voice echoed above. Sakura stood on a tall tree branch, brandishing one last kunai. She launched it, but Kakashi was able to simply step aside.

"Nice try, Sakura."

"It's not over yet!" She called, sticking her tongue out at him. The kunai she had thrown puffed into smoke, revealing Naruto. He threw another kunai behind Kakashi. The jonin looked back and saw the kunai aimed too high to hit the string of the bells. He would congratulate them on effort, but their plot was all for-

The kunai Narutohad thrown also puffed into smoke, revealing the real Naruto. He was right above Kakashi in an aerial somersault. In mid-air, he snatched the book right out of Kakashi's hand.

Thunder crashed immediately. Kakashi's eye was ghostly white. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood in the tree, book open.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. It would be very wise of you to give that back, right now!" Kakashi's ki was tearing through the area, however, Naruto was subtly releasing his own to shield Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hey, Icha Icha Oasis? Isn't this the one we read last night?" Naruto started.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura exclaimed. "The one where in the end, the little sister is at the oasis being forced to-"

"NOOO! DON'T SPOIL THE ENDING!" Kakashi yelled.

"But don't you think it was amazing that the brother was the one to-" Sasuke's voice was cut off as Kakashi put his hands over his ears.

'Oh no, I can still read his lips!' Kakashi closed his eye tight. After several seconds, he opened them. The three stood right in front of him, Sakura in the middle holding the bells.

"Wh-wha? But..."

"Looks like we win Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura giggled, sticking her tongue out at him again.

Kakashi stared wide eyed at the three as they celebrated their victory amongst each other. He sweat dropped and before anything else, he snatched the book back from Naruto.

"Well, even though you didn't actually have to get the bells, you all pass."

"What? We didn't have to get the bells?" Sakura asked.

"The objective of this training was purely...teamwork. Our squads are made up of a three genin cell and their jonin captain. If you had to work individually, we'd have no point of a team, and you'd all be chunin or jonin. If a cell can't function properly together, then they will eventually die, and soon, the village loses protection. Once the protection is gone, the village falls, and as you can see, that hasn't happened yet."

"What if a team has a liablitly?" Sasuke thew in, making Naruto wince.

_Somethings just aren't meant to change..._

"Listen carefully. If you're on a mission to recover stolen documents vital to the village, what would you do after you've recovered them?"

"Bring them back here of course." Sakura stated the obvious answer.

"Now what if the weakest member of your team is injured and unable to continue on his or her own?"

"Leave them and finish the mission. Send back help after the job is done." Sasuke answered, confident in his answer.

"If that had been my evaluation, you would have failed. By then, the enemy could have captured, interrogated, and killed your comrade. As well, our shinobi's are just as vital to the village as any document. Documents can be replaced, but human life cannot. Not only could the enemy find out what's on the document at a later date, but they could also find out even more information by torturing your forgotten comrade. Remember this well. Those who disobey orders are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

'He seems more serious than I remember. Maybe because we proved ourselves even more this time by actually getting the bells?' Naruto shrugged the thought off. Afterwards, Kakashi informed them that they would be receiving their first real mission in two days. They were dismissed, Sasuke walking away instantly. Then, something else weird occurred. Sakura stopped just before she was about to follow Sasuke. She glanced back at Naruto, whom was looking up at the sky with his hands in his pockets.

'He thought of that whole plan...and he saved me when Kakashi-sensei was using genjutsu. And when he created that clone...' Looking closer, she saw a tear in Naruto's eye. 'Maybe...' Sakura once again found herself at a lose for words. Instead she shook her head and ran down the path after Sasuke. After he knew that she was gone, Naruto began to walk along slowly.

'I wonder what that was about...' He sighed. 'Two days huh? Plenty of time for training, but maybe I should get a move on. The next big things that happens is...' A flash of Haku and Zabuza enters his mind. 'What should I do then? I know I can beat Haku, and probably talk him into coming with us, but what about Zabuza? He'll cut me clean in two if I come near him...' Naruto passed the thought up, hoping that by the time they get the mission, he'd be able to fairly, or at least, almost fairly fight the barbaric swordsman. 'Maybe I can find...Hinata-chan? I can sense her chakra somewhere near here...over there.'

Naruto looked towards a tree surrounded by thick bushes. His sharp hearing picked up on a faint 'eep!'.

Hinata hid behind the tree, heart racing. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and took deep breaths.

'Oh my! Did...Naruto-kun see me?' She slowly peered from behind the tree again. "He's gone! Where did he-"

"Whatcha doing, Hinata-chan?" Naruto called behind her. Hinata 'eeped' again, spun around and tripped backwards out of the bushes.

'Wh-when did he get behind me? And did he call me-'

"You okay Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, offering the tomato faced princess a hand.

'He did it again! This better not be Kiba playing a prank!' Hinata thought and closed her eyes, putting her hands together in the ram hand seal. "Kai!" She called.

Naruto chuckled. "This isn't a genjutsu Hinata-chan! C'mon, get up." Hinata opened her eyes and her face couldn't be anymore red.

"Kids these days! Have you no shame? Doing it in the bushes too?" An old lady said as she walked by.

"Everyone's doing it! Boys are doing it with girls! Girls are doing it with other girls! Some people even get into groups and do it!"

"Ahem!" Naruto cleared his throat, now blushing as bad as Hinata. The two old people shrugged and walked away. Hinata took Naruto's hand, forcing herself to stay concious.

"A-arigatou, Naruto-kun. Wh-what are you doing?"

"Actually, I was hoping to find someone to train with me for the rest of today. Are you free?" He asked hopefully. Hinata's heart skipped a beat.

'Naruto-kun wants me to train with him? What do I say?' Naruto saw Hinata space out and chuckled, waiting patiently. After a moment, Hinata took a breath and turned to him. She bowed. "It would be a great honor to train with you Naruto-kun!" She spat out without a stutter. Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment.

'Holy cow, that's the second complete sentence I've ever heard her put together!' He paused again. 'First...' He corrected himself sadly. The first sentence that he was reffering to was when she had admitted her love for him in the future. Tears welled in his eyes again. Why was this future thing so frustrating? Yeah, he had seen into the future but every experience he went through was fresh to him. No matter what he thought he knew, it all could be altered, and not just by his efforts. Hinata gasped and touched his cheek.

"Naruto-kun, is everything alright?" She asked, starting to blush again from the physical contact.

"Y-yeah...C'mon Hinata-chan, we can practice at my place since I cleaned up!" Naruto started to run towards his house, slowly stopping after he saw that Hinata wasn't following. Looking back, he found the Hyuga heiress passed out on the ground.

'Maybe I should've thought that one through...'

**Elsewhere...**

Sakura walked silently towards her own home. She had lost Sasuke, as usual and was left to sulk. But this time, she wasn't completely sulking over losing Sasuke.

'Naruto...what's wrong with this picture? How come he's the dead last but...it doesn't feel like it anymore?' She reached her house and went silently straight to her room. Laying in bed, she buried her face in her pillow. 'Sasuke-kun...what am I doing? Why won't you carry me like Naruto did?' She wondered. Then she began to think of that one moment. The way Naruto held her without a second thought, and even when she hit him, he never dropped her nor scolded her.

'That was nice of him...He didn't have to put up with me after I hit him...' She thought even more, back at the academy. 'It seems so weird...he's nothing like he was back then...no, that's not true.' Her eyes began to water. 'He always was that nice. And he's determined too...'

She rolled over, looking up at her ceiling. The blank roof seemed transient, and she felt as if she was able to look into the sky. Sky blue eyes...

A blush crossed her face and she didn't try to deny it.

Even if just slightly.

Even if just remotely.

Even if just for the moment.

She was falling for Naruto.

* * *

_"Where is he? Did you guys see him anyewhere?"_

_"No...I looked everywhere, even in Suna! They haven't seen him either."_

_"There is one place we haven't went yet. If we want to stop him, we have to hurry though."_

_No one moved. _

_"I love him."_

_"So do I."_

_"I always have."_

_More silence. The wind blew, blossoms of spring whirling in the air._

_"What...what do we say if he still wants to leave us?"_

_"There's nothing to say. We're just going to go with him whether he likes it or not!"_

_All three nodded and took one last longing look at their home, before dashing off towards the last place their love could've been. The Valley of The End._


	4. Mirage of Opening

**It's been well over three years since I've attempted to write anything fanfiction related. Meaning it's been just as long since I've given an update. Makes me wonder if I'm the only author who has left a story unfinished this long and then decided to come back and finish it. Regardless, I'm going to be getting back into the flow of things. So I hope my readers have matured, since my writing style most likely has. Solo, KingKakashi, I'll be looking for your support again on this. So let's get started.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Mirage of Opening**

The night embraced him like a warm blanket, sending small pockets of air every now and then to balance the heat and cold. The orchestral chirp of crickets and the sound of thousands of leaves swaying together created a relaxing tempo. He lay on the ground, gazing up at the moon, and the small blades of grass tickling his ears. His inertia was the future, and his presence was the force. With nothing but time to think at the moment, he wanted to be able to twist the heavens, move the moon, anything. But nothing he did seemed to change in the way he wanted.

"Naruto-kun, are y-you alright?" The soft voice of Hinata Hyuga called to him, piercing through his transcending melancholy. He smiled at the girl that sat next to him.

"I'm fine." He replied. Hinata blushed and hugged her knees to herself even tighter. Naruto thought she looked adorable. Thinking about it, almost everything she did was cute.

Earlier that day, he had to carry her to his apartment, and wait for her to awaken. On Hinata's part, she accidentally mumbled words she regretted when she awoke.

"_What __a __wonderful __dream__! __My __Naruto__-__kun __is __in __my __room__!" __The __Hyuga __princess __mumbled __wiping __her __eyes__. __Naruto __blushed __deeply__, __having __entered __the __room __while __she __was __awaking__. __Upon __realizing __that __she __wasn__'__t __in __her __own __room__, __and __the __fact __that __she __wasn__'__t __dreaming__, __the __heiress __promptly __proceeded __to __faint __again__, __until __she __felt __a __hand __behind __her __back__. __Naruto __was __holding __her __up __so __she __wouldn__'__t __pass __out __again__._

"_Come __on __Hinata__-__chan__, __if __you __faint __on __me __again __we__'__ll __never __get __to __train __together__."_

_The red faced princess could only hold her breath and nod at the close proximity of her secret love._

It took a while, but Hinata slowly began to grow a bit more comfortable around Naruto. At first, it was only because she couldn't believe how clean his apartment was. Then she almost fainted again at realizing that she really was in Naruto's apartment. After a make shift tour of his home, Naruto treated Hinata to his own home made ramen, courtesy of Chef Ayame Ichiraku, before they decided to head out. They trained together for the rest of the day, Hinata practicing the traditional Jyuken and Naruto increasing all around. So after a long day of nothing but fruitful sparring and companionship, Naruto decided to actually get to know the starry-eyed girl better.

"Hinata-chan, this was fun and all, but it doesn't really feel right." The blonde teen stated honestly. His gaze never left the over head canopy of the outlining forest, nor the slightly blending beauty it held with the night sky. His gaze drifted to the moon and it brought a smirk to his face; It reminded him of Hinata's eyes.

"W-what do you mean Naruto-kun? Aren't we sparring partners?" She asked, only slightly realizing the way it sounded. It was only then when she realized what Naruto meant.

"Well…we're friends aren't we? I mean, today we just randomly decided to spar together. We didn't even really talk, not even in the academy. Like what do you want to do when you're older, and what about you're family?" He asked this all while still gazing at the moon. It was funny. He didn't remember doing stuff like this in his visions. Maybe because he did honestly have to be more refined.

"I-I guess we kind of got caught up in the moment." Hinata said and tried to smile to ease the tension that was slowly building. It worked, as she noticed Naruto visibly relax, and close his eyes. "W-well, I guess what I want to do in the future is become a great kunoichi. I want to be able to protect my friends and family, and prove to everyone th-that I'm a capable ninja." She blushed, leaving out the part where she hoped he would be in her future as well.

"That's weird." Naruto stated nonchalantly, making the Hyuga heiress pale, and tears well in her eyes. "I already think you are a great and capable kunoichi." He said, glancing at her out the corner of his eye, fully aware of what the statement would do to the girl. He wanted to take it slow, but he sure in the hell wasn't going to let Hinata get away. They could be friends for a while, but sooner or later, he wanted to make her his. That way, Pein wouldn't be able to…

"Arigatou, Naruto-kun! It's getting late. M-maybe we should head back?" She suggested. Naruto frowned but agreed anyway. He hadn't learned anything about her, at least, not anything that he didn't already know.

"Wait, Hinata-chan! There's something else!" Naruto leaned onto his elbows. "You use the jyuken really well, but it's too rigid of a taijutsu for you."

Hinata pouted in confusion. "What do you mean Naruto-kun? It's the only taijutsu that my clan uses..."

Naruto remembered the newer techniques that Hinata had used in the future, and some of the ones that she had created herself. He knew that she would eventually have a suiton affinity which would most likely lead to her developing such new skills. "Then be different. Do you already know your elemental affinity?"

Hinata nodded, a slightly solemn look adorning her face. "Hai, it's water. I'm the only Hyuga outside of my mother to ever have a water affinity."

Naruto could tell that it wasn't a good thing for her. Most likely, the Hyuga were mostly a Doton based clan, earth. It was evident by their rigid fighting style and stoic demeanor, while Hinata's body was more flexible and fluent, along with her emotions, just like water. Naruto smiled at the girl, snapping his fingers a few times to get her attention. "Hey, don't do that! You're too pretty be all frowned up like that."

His words had the desired effect as her face took on the hue of a rose, but her lips curled into a tiny smile regardless. "A-arigatou Naruto-kun."

"Like I was saying, since you have a water affinity, you won't be able to use the traditional jyuken as well as the rest of your clan. You're too fast and fluent for it. You can improve it Hinata-chan, and make a style that not even your father could surpass. Well, with training of course!"

"D-do you really think I can Naruto-kun?" She didn't want to get ahead of herself. Listening to Naruto, the short explanation did make sense. She had come to the conclusion several times on her own, but never had she dared to change tradition. However, being around Naruto was seeming to give her a huge confidence boost, one that she hadn't felt since the times of her mother.

"Of course you can! As long as you don't give up and don't let anyone stand in your way! As far as I'm concerned, you're the strongest genin kunoichi in Konoha, and one of the strongest genin as well! Pretty sure you can kick my ass if you got serious."

Hinata blushed deeply at his words of encouragement. No one had shown that much faith in her in a long time. It brought tears to her eyes. The feeling was even greater because it was Naruto of all people giving her this encouragement. With a resolute nod, Hinata's eyes, for the first time in years, shown fierce determination. Already her mind was going through several scenarios of new techniques and fluent patterns to incorporate into her fighting style.

"Can I walk you home Hinata-chan?" He asked, jumping up and extending a hand to the reddened princess.

"I-I would love that, Naruto-kun." She agreed, slowly taking his hand. Naruto chuckled to himself as she trembled. It wasn't how he had planned for the day to go, but Hinata had surprised him. She was much more skilled than all of the girls her age and he just wanted to keep pushing her to see how strong she actually was. Wait...what did Hinata just say? "C-can we hang out again? In a few days Naruto-kun?"

Naruto almost stopped walking. "Of course Hina-chan! Anytime you want, you know where to find me!"

_'__More __than __you __know__.'_ Hinata thought blushing.

They walked to the Hyuga gates in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say to the other. Hinata hadn't expected to spend the day with the blonde shinobi. She even wondered how she managed to go the whole day while only fainting once around him.

"Th-this is it Naruto-kun. I guess...I'll see you later."

"Alright! See ya Hinata-chan." Hinata prepared to turn and go into the mansion. However, Naruto gently grabbed her shoulder and in the same instant, planted a small kiss on her cheek. Hinata froze, eyes wide. Naruto grinned and dashed off back towards his own home. Hinata slowly turned around, opened the gate and walked back towards the mansion. Silently opening the door, she walked up to her room. Her little sister, Hanabi, stood right in front of her room, smirking arrogantly.

"So where have you been, _nee__-__san_?" She sarcastically added nee-san, showing no respect for her older sister. Hinata didn't reply, angering Hanabi. "I said, where have you-" _Thud_ "Eh...nee-san?"

* * *

Naruto smirked to himself as he reached his apartment. It was a last minute thought, but he was sure that kiss let Hinata know how he felt.

'I will save you this time, Hinata-chan. We'll get stronger together.' He thought as he entered the building. Kicking off his sandals and tossing aside his vest, he flopped onto his bed.

"Alright, so what's on the agenda now?" He closed his eyes, slowly drifting to sleep. 'I guess it's that time...'

A chill went down Naruto's spine. He opened his eyes and found himself in front of the Kyubi's cage. The ground was no longer covered in water, but everything else remained unchanged. However, Naruto couldn't see the Kyubi inside the cage.

"Hey fox! You here? You damn well better be!" He yelled. A grumbling sound echoed from behind the bars and Naruto knew the fox was still imprisoned.

**"Go away...kit."**

"What? Why? Giving up a tail hurt your pride or something?" Naruto chuckled, feeling no regret in taunting the fox.

**"I saved your life, you insolent fool. You'd better show a little gratitude."**

Naruto sighed. Yeah, the fox had saved his life. But come on, it was the nine tailed demon, the thing that had attacked and damn near destroyed Konoha! Add that to the fact that it was the reason most of his life turned out to be bull shit and seeing it suffer wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Fine fox. By the way, what's the deal with these visions? I'm seeing into the future and you never told me that was part of the deal!"

**"It is a side effect, nothing more. Everything you saw is what is supposed to happen."**

Naruto scowled. "That's not true! Something's have already changed! And I know Hinata-chan..."

**"I said it's what's supposed to happen, not what will happen. You can change somethings if you try hard enough. Somethings, however, are determined by nature itself."**

'Nature...No! I won't accept Hinata-chan's death! I'll save her and everyone else!'

**"If that is all you wanted to know then leave. I want to sleep for a few years."**

"A FEW YEARS? Wh-what about the chunin exams? And Sasuke?" Naruto asked in a panicked voice.

**"You have one tail of my chakra coursing through your tainted veins don't you? You are smart enough to get stronger on you own to defeat the Hyuga and the Uchiha. Now begone! You're voice annoys me."**

The fox went silent and Naruto was pulled from his mind. However, the Kyubi opened one eye after Naruto was already gone. It looked back at it's swaying tails...it only had seven left.

In the real world, Naruto groaned and turned over in bed. 'Great...now what do I do?' He thought trying to fall asleep completely. However, as he closed his eyes, he felt himself being forcefully pulled.

* * *

Opening his eyes again, he found himself on the ground, several black rods sticking into him and pinning him to the ground.

'Wh-what the hell?' He tried to move but the pain stopped him immediately. 'What's going on here?'

_"I'm...just being selfish..."_

'Hinata-chan? No! Not again! Why am I still seeing this if it's not going to happen?' Naruto screamed in his mind.

_Somethings just aren't meant to change..._

_"You...you showed me the right way Naruto-kun. You were there for me, you helped me get stronger."_

'NO! Hinata-chan! It won't end like this, I promise you!' His voice wouldn't come out and he could still feel the pain from the stakes in his body.

_"I was always chasing you...wanting to overtake you...I just wanted to walk with you...You gave me that Naruto-kun. I just wish...I would have told you then..."_

'We never got together still? Why?' As if she had heard him, Hinata kept talking.

_"I'm sorry father never allowed it Naruto-kun, but seeing you whenever I got the chance kept me going and..."_

'Hiashi?' Naruto was on the verge of tears.

_"I'm not afraid to die protecting you because I..."_

Naruto closed his eyes, cringing as tears stung his cheeks.

_"Love You."_

'HINATA-CHAN!'

* * *

The rain settled over Konoha like a bad omen. Two days prior, an appalling stand still left the village in melancholy. No one knew it happened except one blonde shinobi. Now, on the morning of the third day, the rain was pouring like senbon. The jinchuriki had yet to leave his apartment.

A knock sounded at his door.

Someone was knocking again.

It was the third time.

...

He hesitantly stood on two shaken legs. The vision two days ago...it had left him traumatized. To see it again, with even more clarity. With even more feeling. It was as if he was actually there that time...

"Naruto, open the door!" Sakura's voice called just as a crash of thunder sounded. Not knowing what else to do, he slowly opened it, instantly stepping aside to let the bubblegum haired kunoichi inside. Letting down the umbrella she held, Sakura paused for a second, taking in the clean apartment she hadn't expected to see. Getting over it after a second, she turned to the pale blonde. "No wonder you didn't show up to training, you look terribly sick!"

Naruto looked at his hands and indeed, he was as pale as paper. His body even ached, as if he had just been in the fight of his life.

"What happened to you?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow. Slowly catching up to speed, Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"What are you doing here Sakura-chan?" He asked, his voice coming out hoarse. Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"I come to check on you and that's the greeting you give me?" She smirked slightly, seeing the small blush pass his features.

"That's just it. Why did you come to check on me?" He mumbled, but Sakura heard him, getting slightly hurt from the statement. She sat on his couch and sighed.

"I was worried baka. I wanted to apologize."

"So you came through the rain just to do that?" Naruto was just saying whatever came to mind. It wasn't intentional, not completely. However, a smack to his face completely woke him up.

"Yes! I trudged through the rain and mud to come and apologize to you Naruto!" She shouted, a tear in her eye.

"Eh...Sakura-chan! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You know what, forget it Naruto! I thought you were different than when we were in the academy but now I see that you've only become a jerk! I should've known better to think anything else!" She cried and walked towards the door.

"S-Sakura-chan! Wait, I said I'm sorry! You can't go back out there, you'll get as sick as me!" Sakura paused. He had a point but she didn't want to be there anymore. She had thought that she could confirm something by going to him. By going to him while a storm was brewing. She thought that he would welcome her, arms wide open. She just wanted to see what it would feel like to be held by him once. But she wasn't expecting the greeting she got.

"Baka..." She mumbled before returning to the couch.

'Honestly, I don't have a clue what's going on here. Even if she was just checking up on me, why the hell would she come when it's pouring down outside? I really hope Sakura isn't this stupid...'

Sakura sat on the couch, holding herself. She was thinking that she shouldn't be there in the first place. Impulse had made her want to see the blonde since her thoughts a few days prior. She hadn't seen Sasuke and her mind kept drifting to the blonde.

'All because he's nice to me? No, I have to see if I can truly be attracted to him...' She looked up to see Naruto staring at her. She blushed and frowned. "W-what are you staring at baka?"

When she didn't get an answer she looked back up. Naruto lulled on spot and then collapsed to the ground. Sakura immediately jumped to her feet and ran to him.

"N-Naruto? Are you okay?" She shook him slightly. 'Of course he's not okay, he just passed out! Shimate, what do I do?'

Hearing Naruto's breathing grow heavy, she began to panic. 'No, no, no! Why did I have to come over here? Damn you for being sick, baka!' She cursed Naruto, as if it was his fault to intentionally be sick.

"S-Sakura...b...bathroom..." Naruto breathed out heavily. Naruto had a good idea of what was happening to him. The fox was hibernating, meaning he was as close to being alone in his body as he could get without actually releasing the demon. It felt weird, and it was something he hadn't anticipated on happening. He would have to get use to relying on his own strength for a while.

Feeling Sakura's presence disappear into his bathroom, he slowly did several hand signs and focused on letting his chakra flow through out him. He cursed himself for feeling so weak. The amount of his own chakra that he had stored up inside of him was pathetic compared to the amount that kyubi usually let course through him. The only saving grace was that he still could do everything that he could before the Kyubi started hibernating.

"What am I looking for Naruto?" She cried.

"Uh...a warm towel and soldier pills." He said, not being able to think of anything else. She did as he said, coming back and putting the towel on his forehead. At this point, he was starting to feel a little better, though his body felt extremely hot. He began to grow light headed again, however, he felt aware. More aware than usual. His breathing began to grow heavy again. Sakura popped a soldier pill into his mouth and helped him swallow it.

On her part, Sakura was starting to calm down as she noticed his breathing evening out. She let out a sigh of relief and watched as he closed his eyes. He looked as if he had fallen asleep but she couldn't really tell. A small blush found its way to her face again when she realized how innocent he looked in this state. Calm, peaceful, and cute even.

Hesitantly, she reached out and stroked one of his whiskered cheeks, flinching as he shuddered from the touch. When she moved her hand away, his face followed, almost as if he didn't want the touch to end. Blushing even more, Sakura looked away, finding interest in the abundant space of Naruto's apartment. There wasn't much at all, she realized. They were in his living room and all he had was a sofa, a small table with a withering plant and a small analog television. To the left of the living room, facing the door was a small open kitchen area with a small stove and fridge. On the outside of the kitchen area, down a small hall was a door leading to the bathroom and just a bit farther than that, Naruto's bedroom.

'It must be so lonely living here alone...' She thought.

Her thoughts drifted endlessly, though she didn't realize the one true reason she was there. Sakura was at the age where girls dreamed. There was no way for her to realize that what she was starting to feel for Naruto was the same thing she was feeling for Sasuke; a crush. It wasn't a strong emotion, nothing even close to love. Maybe even the base forms of lust. She was attracted to a single, simple thing, and that made the adolescent pre-teen want to pursue those small, warm feelings. This was not something that was rare, or even personal. If someone like Shikamaru or even Kiba would have shown some emotion like Sasuke or Naruto, Sakura may have been attracted to them as well. These thoughts eluded her, however, which in turn, led to the blooming crush that she now had on Naruto.

Her future faded, that very instant. Sakura Haruno's path into the absolute future had become transient.

A small wind blew over her, making her shiver. Naruto cringed as well. She felt his head and rubbed his cheek again, seeing that it made him calm down. However, he was burning up, like he had a fever. The boom of thunder outside let her know she was most likely going to be made into temporary caretaker for the night. But for some reason, that didn't bother her at all. Getting up and going to his room, she pulled the covers from his bed and the single pillow he had. She blushed as his scent was powerful there. It was the first time she had been in a boys room too. Unlike the rest of the house, it was slightly messy. A few clothes were scattered about here and there, and a cup or two of ramen sat discarded on the floor and dresser.

Moving back out into the living room area, she saw that Naruto had sat up, his right arm on his knee. He looked weak, like he was having a hard time moving. "Are you alright Naruto? Don't force yourself if you're still feeling sick."

Naruto just made a small huffing sound before trying to stand. Sakura put the blanket and pillow onto the sofa before helping him. She moved him to the couch and sat next to him. "Thanks...Sakura-chan..." He mumbled out before leaning his head on her shoulder and quickly falling back asleep.

'...This is really weird...' She thought to herself, yet the whole time she couldn't deny that she was enjoying the closeness. This is something that she had always pictured doing with Sasuke, and it made her feel a little insecure. Almost as if she were cheating on Sasuke. But that was just it. Sasuke didn't even give her the time of day, yet Naruto was the one always asking her out and such. She wondered if maybe she should have given Naruto a chance a while ago. 'He...almost died. I wouldn't have been able to experience this at all...'

Once again, something that went above her head happened. Her future was definitely changing, because she was thinking of things that she wouldn't have thought of until several years later. Naruto was almost killed by Mizuki...She didn't know what she would have felt if he had actually BEEN killed. Life and death was going to be something they dealt with on a constant basis as ninja. That thought frightened her to no extent. She didn't have time to run after emotions like she had been with Sasuke, or even the new ones she was starting to feel for Naruto.

'But this feels so nice...' She thought as she moved the blanket over herself and Naruto. She was starting to get frustrated. Thinking was hard when you couldn't understand half of what you were trying to comprehend. Even more, she had been wanting to be held by Naruto, not hold him. But for the life of her, she couldn't see a problem with it as much as she wanted to. After exhausting her tolerance for the unknown for one day, Sakura slowly closed her eyes, her own head leaned against Naruto. In only a matter of seconds, she was asleep as well.

* * *

She was reading. Not that it was much of a big deal, but at this time and the thing she was reading was something to take note of. Ino Yamanaka was known for being spoiled by her father, pampered by her peers, and uppity to most everyone not within her social circle. Her reading materials were usually of the latest fashion magazines, gossip tabloids, or the occasional flower arranging paper. However, at that moment, Ino had gotten her hands on some very different literature. Though she swooned like every other girl to Sasuke, she wasn't one for romance or fairy tales. Her dream life consisted of becoming the strongest Kunoichi, being promoted to Jonin, marrying Sasuke, having two children, and living out her days in the interrogation unit. It was practical, she assumed, and much more realistic than the 'happily ever afters' most other girls her age sought after.

But just as Sakura, she was at the age where girls dreamed.

She didn't realize that she was simply only crushing at the moment. Even though her plans were practical, she felt that they were set in stone within the ever changing ripples that was the future. However, those plans were questioned when she got a disturbing visit from her friend/rival, Sakura. Expecting some talk about Sasuke, she was surprised to hear nothing but 'Naruto this' and 'Naruto that' out of her mouth. After checking the younger girls forehead to make sure she wasn't sick, she teasingly asked if Sakura had started falling for her loud mouth of a teammate. Even more surprisingly, the pinkette blushed. She didn't say yes, but she didn't deny it either. Instead of inquiring on what in the world could possess her friend to shift her attention onto their other blonde comrade, Ino decided research on 'love vs. lust' was in order.

"The Aftermath, by King K. Dark Destiny, by VW-DP. Beyond the Horizon, by TSU. I've read all three, and I still don't get them." Ino hung her head.

She started with The Aftermath, which was an epic length story, and still unfinished by the end of the book that she read up to. It was about a teen that uncannily resembled Naruto. He had a huge battle with his best friend, who turned out to be much more of a dick than he originally showed. The two boys had a friend that was a girl. She had a crush, in Ino's opinion, on the best friend that was the dick. And even when the main character, the one whom resembled Naruto, was injured after their fight, she only cared about the one who had betrayed them.

She understood that the Naruto-like character had always had a crush on the female, and that it had developed to the point where he would probably give his life for her. But she just didn't see it, and in the end, she would lose her chance to a girl whom had always truly loved the Naruto-like character.

'That is so Hinata.' She thought while reading.

Ino read as much as she could, leading into a much deeper and epic story that she couldn't recount at the moment. It was full of challenges, love, anger, sadness, death, and happiness. But the main thing she drew from it was the 'regretted loss of love'.

'Sakura may be trying to fix her relationship with Naruto before that happens. But I just can't see Sasuke doing something so terrible like that. I mean, that guy even...' She stopped her line of thinking due to a scene she found extremely mortifying. Continuing on her research, she thought about the next story on her list.

'Dark Destiny...' She sighed. This one had sent a chill down her spine. It was a tale, almost like the previous, where the main character was betrayed by his two best friends, being a guy and a girl. Once more, the girl had a crush, in Ino's opinion, on the best friend who ultimately turned out to be a dick. The characters were older, and their feelings should have been more developed. However, the girl showed her immaturity by denying the feelings of the guy she should have went for, crushing his heart in a much more hurtful way than necessary. The guy, having had his heart shattered, swears revenge on the girl and the best friend, leading to him betraying his own home and friends, giving up almost everything to avenge his own emotions. What caught Ino's attention in this story was the extra female that ended up having a romantic tie in with the main character. This one hadn't seemed like Hinata at all.

'She's like an older me...' She thought. It was frightening how much the characters in the stories resembled herself and her teammates.

The final story, however, is what did it for her. 'Beyond the Horizon' was an emotional tale, based on the same characters from the previous two stories. This time she couldn't help but feel like she was gazing into the future. This tale, much like the last one, was about the Naruto-like character being betrayed by the obvious Sasuke-like and Sakura-like characters. However, this time, the Naruto-like character pretended to not care and receded into a depressed state, away from the rest of the world after having saved it. Once more, the Sakura-like character gets a dose of reality when the Sasuke-like character drops her like a bad habit. She tries to go back to the Naruto-like character, however, and the biggest part that got to Ino, was the extra female once more.

Once more, the Ino-like character sees what the Sakura-like character couldn't see. However, while it was too late for the Sakura-like character, the Ino-like character takes advantage of the situation and finds out that she could fall in love with the Naruto-like character. After spending time taking care of the Naruto-like character, the Ino-like girl slowly but surely falls for him, and even grows to hate the Sakura and Sasuke-like characters for the things they put him through.

'Why...why do these feel so real? And why do I get the feeling that these are blatant signs...' Ino wasn't stupid. Being raised by Inoichi made sure she was logical when she actually took time to think. Since her talk with Sakura, she's had nothing but time to think. With her mind kicked into overdrive to initially find out why Sakura had changed, she found out that it was for the better. Looking at all the tales, she found out that she was in desperate need of changing.

'But...Naruto? Seriously?' She thought skeptically. There was no way in hell she was going to just up and fall for Naruto like that. It was like she said, there was no way Sasuke would do any of the terrible things depicted in the books, nor would Sakura, she hoped. And the way that it depicted the Naruto-like character was way too farfetched. It made it seem like Naruto had a rough life growing up, far worse than any of Ino's nightmares. It also made it seem like his problems would only continue far into the future, and there was no way that could be true.

"I mean, he's Naruto for Kami's sake! Always laughing, joking, and being annoying..." She trailed off as there appeared to be three things all the stories had in common. Something that Ino couldn't help but swallowing at. 'Always wearing a fake mask...'

For a moment, Ino smirked. This was impulse. Something inside her had changed after reading the three tales. 'Maybe...I should take a break from the Sasuke hunting game.' She thought to herself before laying back with all three books in her grasp and falling to sleep...thinking of Naruto.

* * *

"_How could we have been so fickle? It was only a crush at first..."_

"_Yet we almost killed each other over him. It was pretty funny."_

"_But you two didn't love him like I did...and he still chose you both..."_

_There was a small silence on her part, yet the other two patted her shoulder._

"_He chose us both, but he didn't deny you either. That's why we should look for him now. Because he decided to make us all happy, even though we hurt him first."_

"_...Let's go! We'll show him that as fickle as our younger hearts were, our hearts now beat only for the one we love."_

"_And they'll beat on, now and forever."_

"_We're coming for you...Naruto-kun!"_

* * *

**A/N** I admittedly cut this chapter short. I had already started on this chapter three years ago and after all this time, didn't know where I was going with it. So instead of making up a bunch of random bullshit after the main part of the chapter was already finished, I decided to start establishing all three girls part in the story. The next chapter will continue the plot of the story itself.

Most of you know that I have never been a fan of Sakura, as evident in my other stories. However, after taking the time to look at the relationship she had at this time and point in the series to Naruto, I felt if not now, then Sakura would never be redeemable. That's to say, if she was able to realize that what she had was just a crush back then, I don't think she would have been that bad later on in the series. The same goes for Ino. But, seeing as Naruto is a Shonen series, romance is in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, I won't make promises about the next chapter, but it surely won't take another three years to get it out. I'll be seeing about an epilogue to Dark Destiny soon, and the continuation of Forever Darkness later.

Hope KingKakashi, author of Naruto Vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath, and TearStainedUzumaki, author of Beyond the Horizon found the references tasteful. Hope to hear from you all. Until next time.


	5. First Act of Transparent Affection

**From this point on, please disregard the previous Author Notes. I wasn't prepared for an 8 month long writing drought, and I can't make any promises anymore. Bear with me through this chapter as I try to get the spark back into my writing.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: First Act of Transparent Affection**

Her heart ached a bit. Even after her quality time with Naruto two days prior, she wished to be near him. She had even gone over to his apartment, showing an initiative that she didn't even know she had herself. However, after knocking on the door for several minutes, she was disheartened to get no answer. Even with the little courage she had, for some reason, she couldn't build up the courage to actually call out to him, to announce that it was her that was there. After standing in front of his door for almost ten minutes, she swallowed the forming lump in her throat and began to head home before the tremendous downpour started up again.

Unfortunately, she wasn't to be so lucky. She made it as far as Ichiraku's Ramen stand before the torrential rains kicked up. She rushed into the establishment with no hesitation, actually with a small sliver of hope that the blonde in question would be there. However, the place was deserted, save for the two owners and the girl herself. As the two spotted her they waved.

"Hey Hinata, what are you doing out at a time like this?" Ayame called. The Ichiraku's had become familiar with Hinata due to her coming around often, especially on the days Naruto had been there. Ayame was the one to see the pattern of as soon as Naruto left, Hinata would come in and order the same thing he had just eaten, albeit, on a smaller scale. That's how she inquired on the fact that the Hyuga heiress was head over heels for their blonde patron.

"G-good evening Ayame-senpai, Teuchi-ji. I was trying to visit Naruto-kun, but he didn't answer the door." She spoke dejectedly as she took a seat, knowing she would not be able to go anywhere anytime soon.

Ayame set a hot bowl of ramen in front of her, much to Hinata's surprise, and told her it was on the house due to the weather. Teuchi patted his daughters shoulder, letting her know she could have a break seeing as Hinata would most likely be their only customer for a while now. The older girl hopped the counter with one hand and landed in a stool next to Hinata, making the younger girl smile at her performance of athleticism, even though she wasn't a kunoichi.

"So, you finally worked up the courage to go see otouto! Are you two finally dating?" Ayame got straight to the point, making Hinata choke as she slurped her ramen.

"N-no! We're not dating yet...I-I MEAN, NOT AT ALL! AH!" Hinata's face flushed red and she stumbled upon her words, though she didn't need to. She told Ayame everything, and in return, Ayame talked to Hinata about Naruto whenever they had time.

Giggling, Ayame leaned on the counter, her cheek in her hand. "You two would be so cute together. I think you would humble Naruto to the point where he starts paying more attention to his surroundings."

Hinata calmed down but frowned at Ayame's words. "B-but...I don't want to be a burden to him...I...I really like him. He's confident, silly, and a hard worker. He cares about his friends, and I can see that he has a huge burden that he doesn't want anyone to know about. Like he doesn't want anyone to worry for him. I-I don't think there is anyone else with as big a heart as Naruto-kun. So I don't want to be another worry for him. I want to stand next to him, a-and help him. And in turn, we can become stronger together." Hinata had all but forgotten that she was talking to Ayame as she poured her heart out like the falling rain around them.

"Awww!" Ayame cooed, making Hinata jump. "That is so sweet Hinata! You never told me that before! Naruto would be lucky to have you!" Ayame's voice quivered a bit, unbeknownst to Hinata, however Teuchi noticed.

Ayame did view Naruto as a little brother, and even though she was really close to Hinata, she wasn't nearly as close to the Ichiraku's as Naruto was. Ayame would put Naruto before Hinata any day. When Hinata had shown interest in Naruto, she and Teuchi had become cautious around the girl, wondering her motives for liking Naruto. Though Hinata had never shown any ill feelings towards him, and had been a wonderful customer and friend to Ayame, she had never given a true reason for why she had affection for Naruto. But now that she had verbalized what she was feeling, Ayame and Teuchi held a far greater respect for the starry eyed princess, and she would forever become someone important to them.

"...But..." Hinata's voice was low, barely audible over the patter of the rain and boom of thunder in the distance. "Naruto-kun...he...he likes Sakura-san."

Though she said this, her mind drifted back to the kiss Naruto had given her a few days back. She couldn't deny that he was obviously into her, but she couldn't be sure just HOW into her. The kiss did more to confuse her than to instill a sense of acknowledgment within her, no matter how much she truly wanted to believe her chances had risen with the blonde haired teen. It was only because just a few weeks ago, Naruto had been completely into Sakura, and like always, hadn't given Hinata the time of day. Hinata was drawn from her thoughts as she heard Ayame sigh.

"I-is something wrong, senpai?" Hinata asked with worry, seeing Ayame hold her head in what she believed was frustration. Ayame just smiled bitterly.

"I'm not a big fan of this Sakura girl. I've seen her a few times, and the few times I've seen her around Naruto, she was turning his already mush brain into liquid air." Ayame was joking, but Hinata could sense the venom within her words. "I've never confronted Naruto outright about it, but I've talked to him about this so called 'crush'." Ayame's smile was completely gone as she began to think about the conversations she had shared with her blonde otouto.

Hinata kept quiet, letting Ayame get her thoughts together. She was curious, but also scared, about what Naruto and Ayame talked about.

"First off, believe me when I say what Naruto feels for Sakura is just a crush. A very sad misunderstanding that I hope you can fix Hinata. The way you feel for my otouto is real, and something that Naruto won't understand right away. When I asked Naruto why he liked Sakura so much, he told me it was because she gave him attention. After a while, I think Naruto started to believe that the negative attention Sakura was giving him was her way of showing affection. I hate to believe that without knowing what actual affection is, Naruto truly believes what Sakura does is a good thing."

A boom of thunder made both girls jump, as they had gotten lost in the conversation and even forgot that it was storming around them. The vicious wind rattled the ramen stand and Teuchi began pulling back the storm shutters.

"Actually Ayame-senpai..." Hinata began, a small blush crossing her face at the memory again. "Naruto-kun has been acting differently recently. W-we actually spent some time together two days ago. He walked me home and...he k-kissed me, on the cheek." Her blush intensified as she spoke the words, an adorable smile forming on her face. She had to admit; thinking of the kiss was making her feel a lot better.

Ayame, however, was sitting with her mouth hung open, simply staring at the Hyuga heiress. "HE WHAT?" She shouted, the sound amplified due to the closed in space. Hinata jumped again, Ayame's voice being akin to the boom of the surrounding thunder.

"A-ano, what's wrong now senpai?" Hinata asked with panic in her voice.

Ayame slapped her hand to her forehead. "Hinata, otouto is TOTALLY into you! There's no chance in hell he would have kissed you if he wasn't! Even if on the cheek! I haven't seen Naruto so much as hug anyone without thinking the world of them! He's hugged me, dad, Iruka-sensei, and Hokage-dono, no one else! He _kissed _you Hinata!"

The passion in Ayame's voice wasn't lost on Hinata as she felt her heart swelling with emotion. When she thought about all the times she had seen Naruto, it was true. Naruto made very little physical contact with other people, probably one of the reasons he had believed Sakura's physical contact was affection. However, she had never, EVER, seen Naruto kiss anyone. That meant...

"I was his first kiss?" Hinata thought with wide eyes. Before she could hit the ground, Ayame caught the younger girl.

Shaking her head, she called out. "Dad, code Hinata! Get the cot out!"

* * *

When he had awoken, it was a bit past noon. The rain had stopped from the night before. Sakura had already left, and in a hurry it seemed as his door was slightly ajar when he got up. After quickly checking his apartment to ensure no one had entered while he was sleeping, Naruto sighed and flopped back on to his couch. A smile graced his lips as he felt himself brimming with energy. He felt as if he could go toe to toe with Gaara ten times over.

"Alright, ignoring the weirdness that was yesterday, what's on the agenda for now?" Naruto groused to himself, though he was finding it hard not to think about Sakura being there for him the day prior. For all intents and purposes, Naruto was trying his hardest not to think that the girl may have actually started to become interested in him. As much as he still held some form of affection for her, Naruto honestly just wanted to be with Hinata. To solidify his thoughts, he pegged it off as a passing fancy, something that Sakura would probably have gotten over already, and if not, then soon.

Moving on to the next thing on his mind, Naruto frowned. He had wasted two days, and now that he thought about it, one of those times that someone had knocked on his door could have been important. _'I think I still have about two or three weeks __before the mission to wave. But with things changing, maybe even that's not true. I have to be more careful. No more of this self-pity bull crap.'_

Having a bit more resolve than he did the previous few days, Naruto got up, cleaned up, and headed out. At least, he tried.

"Slow down there speed racer!" Iruka called with a small laugh.

"I-Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, having almost plowed right into his former sensei as he made his way outside. Naruto was actually happy, finding it refreshing for something else to happen that he hadn't seen in the future.

Iruka feigned hurt. "What type of greeting is that Naruto? I'm hurt!" He laughed again at the deadpan look on Naruto's face. "Actually, I was just sent to inform you that Hokage-sama would like to see you."

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "About what?"

"I don't know..." Iruka lied. Naruto noticed Iruka swallow after answering, making his stomach drop. Something wasn't right.

"Alright, let's go." Naruto called with less enthusiasm in his voice, which did not go unnoticed by Iruka. Instead of saying anything, however, Iruka put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and shunshined them to the Hokage's office.

The first thing Naruto noticed was Kakashi having the most concerned look upon his face that he had ever seen. The Hokage had a serious look upon his own face, his hands folded in front of his mouth, letting Naruto know this was all business. Even Iruka's smile was gone and replaced with a look of trepidation. The sinking feeling in Naruto's stomach grew more and more by the second.

"Wh...what's going on here?" Naruto asked nervously, his breathing starting to pick up.

"Have a seat Naruto-kun." The Hokage spoke calmly.

_'Yep, something's wrong here.'_ Naruto thought as he did as commanded. "Look, Hokage-sama, I didn't do it! Whatever it was, I swear it wasn't me!"

The Hokage's eyes remained steeled, however, a small smile formed behind his hands. Only after a moment had it disappeared however, worrying Naruto all the more.

"Naruto-kun, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me. There will be dire consequences to any lie that you tell me." The Hokage had only ever spoken this sternly to Naruto if he had been caught doing something that was either dangerous to himself or the village.

"A-alright Hokage-sama..." Naruto trembled. Even with the mindset and will of his older self, his younger half was still just as much intimidated by those he respected as ever.

"What happened to you the night you fought and defeated Mizuki." Sarutobi's eye bored into Naruto's like drills.

_'Oh shit...he knows...'_ Naruto thought and swallowed the forming lump in his throat.

"Naruto?" Iruka called his name and put a hand on his shoulder again, making Naruto flinch at the contact. He looked up at his former sensei to see him smiling sadly, trying his best to reassure Naruto that things would be okay. It helped a little, but Naruto was definitely not looking forward to this conversation, not that he even expected to have the conversation so soon.

Taking just a moment longer to calm himself down, Naruto began to retell the entire story, starting from him stealing the Forbidden Scroll up to the previous night with him and Sakura. Naruto didn't know why he had told so much, but felt good to get things off of his chest. Being the only one to know about the future was starting to become a pain too, and Naruto instantly felt like telling Hinata the truth too, but found that would probably be better done once they got to know each other a bit more.

"That's the honest to Kami truth, Hokage-sama. Please believe it."

Sarutobi hadn't said anything or even made any indication of having heard Naruto at all. Through the entire tale, the Hokage just kept his eyes steeled and on Naruto. Kakashi had frowned quite a bit, especially at hearing that Sasuke deserted the village. Iruka of all people was seething in anger, especially at how little he seemed to be around for Naruto in the future. Regardless of whether Naruto was telling the truth or not, he was definitely going to start putting forth more of an effort to be there for his self-proclaimed little brother.

After subjecting Naruto to several more seconds of an unreadable glare, Sarutobi sat back in his chair and sighed deeply. "I believe you Naruto-kun." He said, making both Iruka and Kakashi pale. Though Iruka had already been more inclined to believe Naruto, Kakashi had actually hoped that Naruto's tales were false. It put everything into perspective for him.

Naruto was shocked speechless, something that Sarutobi noted he would need to learn to do more often. Seeing the blonde trying to formulate his next words, he awaited patiently. "B-but why?" Was all Naruto could get out.

"There were several things within your tale that you should have no possible way of knowing Naruto. Such as Jiraiya's true nature, his relationship with Tsunade. Her apprentice Shizune, and several places throughout the world that you have not visited as of yet. As I am very familiar with the seal the Yondaime placed upon you, I have no doubts that everything you've said is true, including the hibernation of the Kyubi. Main of all, however, is that I have only been informed of Akatsuki by Jiraiya, and no one outside of these four walls has any knowledge of their existence."

Naruto was sweating but had gradually began to get happier as Sarutobi explained why he believed him. However, something caught Naruto's attention. "Wait, but ero-sennin knows of the Akatsuki and he's not here."

"Geez, I can see that's going to be a headache already." A very familiar voice called out from the shadows. Naruto's heart skipped a beat and he turned instantly. His eyes widened and tears began to fill them as he took in the visage of Jiraiya, alive and well.

"E...Ero...Jiraiya-sensei..." Naruto mumbled weakly. All of the older shinobi in the room remained quiet, watching Naruto's reaction. "JIRAIYA-SENSEI!" Naruto shouted and launched himself into Jiraiya's stomach, wrapping his arms tightly around him as best he could.

Jiraiya frowned sadly, not able to fully comprehend the affection that Naruto was showing him. He was a bit disappointed with himself for not being able to return the feelings. He was even more disappointed that he knew he should have been in Naruto's life from day 1. "Settle down gaki, there's still a bit more that needs to be discussed."

Naruto's grip on Jiraiya weakened. He realized that even though he had what he could call 'memories' of his and Jiraiya's time together, none of it existed. The tone of Jiraiya's voice let him know that he held none of the 'memories' that Naruto had. Naruto looked up at Jiraiya as he let him go and the sadness in Naruto's eyes almost made Jiraiya's heart stop. Naruto was completely heartbroken.

The others would notice as well as Naruto silently took his seat again. Iruka was kicking himself again for not being there for Naruto in what Naruto had explained of the future. Kakashi had resigned himself to remain silent as the discussions continued. He had far too much to think about in regards to his own place within Naruto's future.

"Naruto..." The Hokage spoke up. "I will be honest with you as well. I ordered Iruka and Kakashi to keep an eye on you after you awoke in the Hospital. It was in regard to the Kyubi."

Naruto's eyes drooped even more, however, he did not say anything. The Hokage knew he wouldn't, as since he knew Naruto was telling the truth, he knew Naruto was mature enough for information that would be harder to swallow. He did not like hurting Naruto as he knew he was doing right then, but if not then, things would have only gotten worse.

"As such, Iruka and Kakashi were positioned as ANBU within your apartment." Naruto's eyes shot open and his mouth fell, letting Sarutobi know he understood what he was saying. "The nightmares that you've been having Naruto, you've been speaking in your sleep. You've said the word 'Akatsuki' and 'Pein' several times, as well as calling out Miss Hinata Hyuga's name quite so many times."

Despite the revelations, Naruto's mind immediately drifted to his nightmares and his mood dropped even further, only because of the thought that Hinata hadn't been saved.

"Pein is the leader of Akatsuki." Jiraiya said. "That's all I've found out about him. But you just gave us a description on his looks and abilities. Even if what you say isn't supposed to happen for another four years, this information is invaluable. You're already a hero gaki." Jiraiya spoke in hopes of shifting the constantly declining mood of the room. However, Naruto had barely heard him as he looked up and addressed the Hokage.

"I'm sorry for keeping this all a secret jiji, I didn't know how to tell you all without...without you thinking I was being influenced by the Kyubi." Naruto spoke honestly and humbly, the pain that he was experiencing from the past few moments seeming to take the life from him.

Sarutobi shook his head. "It's me that should be apologizing Naruto. I am glad to know and see that you will grow into a fine young man, even without me there to guide you. Do not be ashamed of feeling the way you did, as you can see that I also jumped to a conclusion. You were more spot on than I would like to admit." Naruto was rightfully guarded against the Hokage. Sarutobi DID think Naruto had some of the Kyubi's influence being imposed on him. However, after their meeting, he knew that was no longer the case. "It's also because of this that I wish to tell you the full truth Naruto. The truth about your mother and father."

The tension in the room tripled, more so for Kakashi as he had just recently found out the truth himself. Iruka only knew of the Fourth Hokage being Naruto's father, as the Hokage had revealed it to him the night of Mizuki's betrayal.

Just as Sarutobi opened his mouth to speak, Naruto was struck by another migraine. This time, however, it was just like the first time he had received visions of the future.

Starting from the point Hinata's death this time, images blurred through Naruto's mind, though he was able to comprehend every single scene with uncanny clarity. From meeting Killer Bee, to Sakura's false confession to him. However, instead of continuing on, the images began to burn, like pictures being set on fire. They were replaced with Naruto sitting on Hokage mountain with Hinata on his lap. Then the same scene burned to show Sakura sitting on his lap. And once more it burned to show Ino. They weren't happening at different times. They were different possibilities of the future.

When the images began to change again, just like normally, Naruto saw the man with the orange spiral mask. He took his mask off to reveal...Obito Uchiha? The name came out in Kakashi's voice. The picture burned away again, this time to reveal the orange masked man as...Naruto himself.

In the Hokage's office, the four older shinobi had jumped to their feet. Sarutobi had just told Naruto that the fourth Hokage was his father and Naruto had fainted. However, only moments after, Naruto's eyes shot open and his body began to convulse.

"A seizure?" Iruka asked with fear in his voice.

"No! Look at his eyes!" Jiraiya said.

Naruto's eyes were reflecting images, as if he were looking at something that wasn't really there. Kakashi revealed his sharingan to see closely what Naruto was seeing. His own eyes widened as he saw the images just as clearly as Naruto was seeing them. "Obito Uchiha?" Kakashi called before losing the will to stand and dropping to his knees. However, he moved to a kneeling position to continue to view the images reflecting from Naruto's eyes.

"What else is there Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked.

"So...so many things, too much for me to comprehend. It looks like the other Kage, though the Suna Kage is different, and our own is Lady Tsunade."

"A Kage summit?" Sarutobi mused.

"It appears to be." Before Kakashi could view anymore, however, Naruto's eyes slammed shut and his body stopped convulsing. He lay unconscious on the floor, only the rising and falling of his chest letting the others know he was alive.

To their relief, he also began to whisper in his sleep. However, he spoke words that would silence everyone in the room with shock. "Mom..."

* * *

The visions that Naruto had ended abruptly, ending at the point where he would be facing Obito Uchiha as the jinchuriki of the ten-tailed demon. Even with everything that had happened up to that point, there were three things that he focused on most, and several other primary but less important things.

First, he was sure that Hinata would live now. That alone made wanting to confess to her all the more important. Because in his visions, he still hadn't answered her proclamation of love. It made him want to jump into the future and kick his own ass for stupidity.

Two, right after Hinata had 'died' at the hands of Pein, Naruto went ballistic and was about to unleash Kurama, in which Naruto had learned his name through the vision as well. His father had appeared in his mind and resealed the Kyubi. His father was the Fourth Hokage, yet Naruto wasn't surprised anymore. The images had given him the emotional sense of his older self as well, so he took it in stride with the rest of his visions.

The third and final thing that stood out to him was his mother. Kushina Uzumaki, a beautiful, albeit loud, woman with a heart as big as her will of fire.

"Aww, that's what you think of me Naruto?" Her voice pierced through the darkness that Naruto hadn't even realized he was in. A shining flash of red light blinded him before everything came into view. He was standing in front of Kurama's cage, though he couldn't see the fox. Who he could see, however, was the very woman he had been thinking of standing directly beneath the seal of the cage.

"Mom..." He whispered.

"Hm? That's the only greeting I get? This isn't how it happened in your future visions." She smiled knowingly at Naruto. To both of them, this wouldn't be their first meeting. However, she opened her arms just in time for Naruto to run and jump into them. "You're tiny squirt! I'm glad I got to meet you as both a child and a grown man."

"Kaa-chan! I'm glad to see you again...or to meet you...or...fuck it I'm just happy you're here!" Naruto cried into his mother's chest. He had never met her, even if he had memories of it. He didn't care, for as far as he was concerned, this truly was their first meeting.

Another presence would make itself known, coming from the corridor that Naruto usually took to reach the fox's cell. "She gets tears and a hug yet I get punched in the gut?" Minato Namikaze spoke as he scratched the back of his head with a wry grin on his face.

"Tou-san!" Naruto called and launched himself into his fathers arms next.

"That's more like it!" Minato laughed and hugged his son close. Kushina walked over with tears starting to form in her own eyes. She wrapped her arms around them both the best she could, putting Naruto right in the middle of them both, his head on Minato's shoulder.

"Hello sweetheart." Minato whispered to Kushina. Kushina leaned in and kissed him passionately, something that they had not been able to do for some time. After a few seconds of not realizing their son was still sandwiched between them, the two leaned back.

"Hello love." Kushina whispered back with a loving smile. Naruto suddenly puffed into smoke and appeared by the Kyubi's cage.

"Kami, I couldn't breathe! Did you have to kiss that long? Geez, I could even feel mom's nipples getting hard through her clothes!" Naruto mock gagged.

Kushina's face lit up redder than her hair and she folded her arms in a not so subtle attempt to hide herself. Minato couldn't help it and burst into laughter. Kushina turned her glare on her husband.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY DEAR!" Kushina bellowed with her hair fluttering every which way behind her. Minato instantly shut up as he realized the danger he was in.

"N-not at all! Naruto, apologize to your mother this instant!" Minato stammered out.

"**FOR KAMI'S SAKE CAN YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP!" **The booming roar was accompanied by a blast of wind that sizzled Kushina's hair and had her cowering right alongside her husband. Naruto, on the other hand, was soon the one holding his sides in laughter, much to his parents embarrassment.

"Kurama's awake!" Naruto called through his laughs.

"**Dammit, can't a guy sleep for three years without disembodied chakra spirits and psychic brats waking him up every two days?" **The Kyubi yawned as it walked into view of the others.

"So I take it you know about the future too?" Naruto asked, receiving a nod from the fox.

"SIT BOY!" Kushina suddenly yelled and the Kyubi found himself being pinned to the ground by dozens of red chains. A yelp left the fox's mouth before it knew what was happening.

"Honey, calm down! We did disturb its sleep!" Minato called, holding his wife back as she was rolling up her sleeves, fully intent on beating the fox into mush for scaring her like that.

"**Dammit Kushina, I told you before I'm not into bondage!"**

"How about a muzzle!" She retorted and suddenly red chains wrapped shut around the Kyubi's mouth.

Naruto puffed into smoke again, this time appearing behind his father. "I...I forgot how scary Kaa-chan can be."

"No kidding..." Minato agreed.

After the shenanigans finally began to calm down, Kushina released Kurama and the family sat directly in front of the cage with Kurama laying with his paws beneath him.

"Okay, as much as I'm enjoying this, how is this even possible?" Naruto asked. Seeing into the future was one thing, but having his parents appear together in his mind, and having Kurama receive the memories of the future was too much to handle.

Minato gazed up at the seal and sighed. "I can't say for sure, but I think when Kurama attempted to give you its chakra, it added a new function to the seal. What that is, I don't know exactly. But because of your visions and the way it's been effecting your mind and body, I think the seal registered the moment you pulled the seal off and the moment you fought Kurama in the future as happening at the exact same time. That's how we're here together."

Kushina kept a straight face, though she was just as lost as Naruto. "And because we love you so much!" She added. Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Hearing her say that never got old.

"Then what about you Kurama? Why do you only have seven tails left?" Naruto asked. The fox sighed and showed that instead of seven, he was down to six. "What the-"

"**It's alright kit. I miscalculated. What your father says is right. I accidentally added a new function to the seal. Instead of you unlocking it and taking my chakra like you were supposed to, the seal is going to siphon my chakra into you completely until there is nothing left of me. Every single one of my tails will fade, and then I will follow as well." **

"But doesn't that mean...you'll die?" Naruto asked the question that he already knew the answer to it. He looked around to his parents and saw the solemn looks on their faces as well.

"**It was a dumb mistake on my part, kit, and I deserve what's coming to me. When I saved your life, it was only in my own benefit. But having seen the future with you now, I know that my sacrifice is for a much better cause than my own prolonged existence. At the rate my tails are fading, I will be gone by the time you return from Wave."**

"No!" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet. He immediately went to remove the seal, however, chains wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving. "Kaa-chan?"

Kushina had her eyes cast down, not wanting to see the hurt on Naruto's face. "I'm sorry Naruto, but can't you see Kurama has accepted his fate? You have no right to change that."

"But...but..." Naruto tried and failed to think of another excuse to try and save the Kyubi, until he realized that he had no clue if removing the seal would do that either.

"**If I die, that also means that Madara and Obito will never be able to complete Infinite Tsukiyomi either. This is for the best Naruto." **

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Naruto cried, but made no move to struggle as his mother still had him bound. Just as abruptly as it had been in the Hokage's office, another vision struck Naruto.

(-)

_Naruto was in his apartment. Looking at his calender, Naruto saw that it was the day of the Chunin exams. As Naruto was silently getting dressed and prepared for the events that he knew were to come, a small yip drew his attention. Turning around, he saw a fox kit ripping his couch cushions to shreds. _

"_Aww, come on Kurama! That's the forth set this week!" Naruto called before he went over to grab the baby fox. The vision would end as he was able to see into the fox kits eyes...and saw the eyes of the Kyubi. _

(-)

Being inside of Naruto's mind, Kushina, Minato, and Kurama had been able to view the scene. Kushina and Minato glanced lovingly at their son while Kurama remained silent. Naruto shook his head as he came back to reality and attempted to sit down, just to be reminded that he was chained. Kushina released him and moved to hug him before he fell.

"..." Naruto didn't say anything, though all present saw that he truly wanted to.

"**You will take care of him, won't you Naruto?"** Kurama asked quietly.

"..." Once again, Naruto said nothing, turning his face into his mothers chest again as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall.

"**He will be like my son Naruto. Will you promise to take care of him?"** Kurama asked just as before.

"...Hai..." Naruto whispered.

"**What was that, kit?"**

"HAI! HAI, I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOUR SON KURAMA!" Naruto shouted out and let loose the tears that had finally broken through.

Kushina pulled her son close, knowing that Naruto wasn't just crying over the Kyubi. He was crying over everything that he had seen and been through, both past and future. The anguish that Naruto had held in from his child hood, and the pain that he hid in the future all congregated at that one moment and unleashed itself from Naruto's soul, purging it. Minato moved towards them and wrapped them both within a hug as well. With a flash of his eyes, the seal fell away and the cage opened wide. Kurama moved out and laid around them, wrapping them all within his tails. The overwhelming emotions drove Naruto to cry himself to sleep.

* * *

"Even further..." Jiraiya sighed as Naruto finished explaining everything that had just happened. The rabbit hole just got deeper and deeper.

"So you're currently running on two tails of power?" Iruka asked, trying to keep track of how the seal was working now.

"Hai. Every week one of Kurama's tails is going to disappear. I'll spend that week absorbing his chakra and when it finishes, I'll most likely get another complete look at the future. So by the end of next week, I'll be at three tails and have another vision. At least, that's how dad and Kurama explained it."

To everyone's delight, Naruto had been alright and seemingly had forgotten about the tense atmosphere that had been prevalent before his little future trip. Even more, Naruto seemed to be happier than they had ever seen him, which in turn brought up everyone's moods.

"Naruto...can you make a rasengan right now?" Jiraiya asked, his hand on his chin.

"I can try..." Naruto said and held his palm out. To everyone's surprise, Naruto did it effortlessly. It was a bit larger than average as well.

"Remarkable..." Jiraiya said as he looked at the spiraling sphere. Even after having heard everything, Jiraiya couldn't get over the fact that Naruto could actually see into the future. However, even with his doubts, Jiraiya had also already been thinking of ways to use Naruto's abilities to stop Akatsuki and now even Madara and Obito Uchiha.

"So what now?" Naruto let the rasengan fade.

"This definitely changes everything. Naruto, what is the next big event that we should be preparing for?" Sarutobi questioned.

"The Mission to Wave. The bridge builder Tazuna is going to arrive within a week or two and ask for an escort back to Wave Country, under the guise of a C-rank mission. That's when we're going to be attacked by the Demon brothers Meizu and Gozu, and then again by Zabuza and his partner Haku, turning the mission into an A-rank."

The Hokage nodded and continued. "Are you confident in your abilities to defeat Zabuza and Haku?"

"Of course, especially since I'll have between three to five tails of power within me. But the thing is, I don't want to kill them Hokage-sama. They aren't really bad people, especially Haku. I want to save them."

Once again the Hokage nodded, understanding what Naruto was saying. Having the Demon of the Mist, also one of the legendary swordsman, join Konoha would be very beneficial, especially with the knowledge of the invasion that Orochimaru had planned during the chunin exams.

"I understand Naruto. I will send and extra team along with you to aid in subduing Zabuza and Haku then, however, I will need their Jonin sensei to be informed of the things you have shared with us here Naruto. As well, I will leave it up to you to protect the extra genin team when the time comes."

"You have nothing to worry about jiji, I would never let anything happen to my precious people." With his words, Naruto suddenly become sad as he realized he could not keep that promise in regards to at least two people in the room. A hand upon his shoulder brought him back.

"Don't sweat it kid. Everything you're telling us now will ensure that things are different. I won't be going anywhere, I promise." Jiraiya spoke with the same care that he had shown Naruto in his visions. It made Naruto smile to experience something he thought he would never truly get to feel.

"In the meantime," Kakashi finally spoke up. "We're going to be overhauling your training Naruto. Sakura and Sasuke too. I'm ashamed that I would send you and Sakura into the chunin exams with such little knowledge, and I apologize sincerely."

"I'll be teaching you Sage Mode before you go to Wave too gaki. I'm sure Ma and Pa will understand once we explain the situation and it shouldn't take you too long since you've already done it once." Jiraiya was still stroking his chin, showing that he was thinking as he spoke. It had been a while since anyone had seen Jiraiya being so serious.

Iruka sighed. "While I may not be as skilled as Kakashi-senpai and Jiraiya-sama, I was in the ANBU under Ibiki-sensei. I can help you perfect your hand to hand combat with a kunai as well as helping to develop more ways to use the basic academy jutsu. Some people don't realize how deadly those techniques can be when used properly."

Naruto was surprised to hear Iruka offer his help as well, but even more surprised that he had never known that he was part of the ANBU. Either way, he was grateful for everyone offering their help. It was more than he could have hoped for upon revealing the truth about his future visions.

"Thank you, everyone. I was worried at first, but if we work together I know we can change the future..." Naruto held back a laugh, noticing he sounded like Iruka for a second.

"Well..." Jiraiya started, a familiar smirk on his face. "I'd very much like to know who Hinata, Ino, and Sakura are whom were in your visions Naruto. What type of future were you thinking of, hmm?"

Naruto paled as he had forgotten all about it. But then something hit him. "Ino?"

* * *

"...I'm up all night to get lucky." Ino hummed while dancing lightly, watering the flowers at her family's flower shop. Ino did not dream that night, like she had hoped, but woke up feeling far more refreshed than usual. She also realized she had become addicted to reading and was currently in the middle of working overtime so she could afford to buy a kindle fire.

Just as she knew would happen, she began to understand the three tales she had read the night prior. As far as she was concerned now, the tales were different possibilities for their future and she even took the time before going to work to rename all of the characters with people within their village, albeit, there were some she couldn't reference very well.

"Alright, so if everything I read was forewarning me about the future, I can look forward to Sasuke being a total prick...okay, so that's not too farfetched. I can look forward to Sakura being a total bitch towards Naruto...also not too farfetched. I can look for Hinata being fucking awesome, all the time for some reason...yeah... Then I can look forward to being almost as bad as Sakura, correcting myself before hitting rock bottom, and then ending up with the man of my dreams." Ino paused. "What type of moron would believe any of that?"

"Did you just call me a bitch?" Sakura's voice made Ino leap over the row the flowers she had just been watering. The pale she held that was full of water was now empty, having dumped its watery cargo onto Sakura. Sakura just stood with a deadpan glare, dripping from head to toe.

"H-how much of that did you hear?" Ino called in fear but had leaped back over the row of flowers just to grab and shake Sakura by the shoulders.

"You were mumbling but I heard 'Sakura' and 'total bitch' in the same sentence." Sakura accused.

"Oh, then yeah, you're a total bitch." Ino said happily before picking up the pale to go refill it.

"That's mean Ino..." Sakura's voice was low, and Ino turned around in confusion.

"What's gotten you so down? I was only joking." Though she know she was only half joking. Along with thinking clearly since that morning, Ino had been looking at their lives from the past few years. Both she and Sakura had become 'total bitches'. Even if she was just looking too much into the stories she read, she knew she needed to change, lest she truly end up like the characters she had read about.

"Oh..." Sakura replied. Ino saw that she was looking down in thought, but felt there was still some sadness from what she had just said. Ino wondered if Sakura had been thinking along the same lines as herself. Either way, she filled the water pale and went right back to watering the flowers.

"I should really learn a suiton jutsu or something..." Ino mused to herself. Sakura looked up, remembering where she was.

"Hey...Ino. Remember that talk we had about Naruto?"

"Of course." Ino stopped herself from saying more, hoping not to give away the fact that she had started thinking of Naruto just a bit more as well.

"I...I spent the night at his apartment yesterday..."

The pale once again fell from Ino's hand, this time splashing water all over her shoes. Sakura took a step back, not from the water, but from what she knew was next.

"YOU WHAT?" Ino turned and yelled, however, her turn was too fast and she didn't have enough traction in her shoes to stay grounded in the puddle around her. Ino slipped clean off her feet and landed hard on her back. The force sent a jolt up her spine and Ino passed out while drawing a sharp breath

"Oh my gosh, Ino are you okay?" Sakura cried and knelt next to Ino, only then noticing she was unconscious. Sakura began to panic. "What the hell! She couldn't have fallen that hard, could she?" Reminded of the previous night, Sakura immediately went to find an adult. She didn't want to go through what she did with Naruto again.

* * *

"Ugh, that hurt like hell." Ino said as she sat up.

"Oh my gosh, Ino are you okay?" Sakura cried while kneeling next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now what's this about you spending the night with Naruto?" Ino asked, however, Sakura's face took on alarm and she stood up, running farther into the flower shop. "Hey, forehead, where are you going?"

Sakura showed no signs of slowing, or even of hearing Ino at all.

_'What the hell?'_ Ino thought, but realized her voice was just as loud as when she was talking to Sakura just then. "Whoa..." She said aloud and thought at the same time, creating an echo. "What the hell is going on here?"

Standing up, Ino rubbed her back in pain before turning around to see the mess on the floor. However, instead of just water, Ino's eyes went wide at the sight of her own body laying lifeless on the ground. "HOLY SHIT AM I DEAD?" Her stomach dropped as she blinked several times, yet the body lying on the ground was still her own. "No, no no no no no! I can't be dead, this is some straight up bull shit!"

"You're not dead Ino, but you're really close." The voice of Inoichi Yamanaka echoed around his daughter. "And spirit or not, watch your mouth young lady!"

"Daddy, where are you? What's happening to me?" Ino cried out, once again thinking and speaking at the same time.

"Calm down sweetheart, and think, don't speak. I'm on my way with Sakura, she just told me what happened." Just as he said, Inoichi and Sakura appeared from the greenhouse of the flower shop and stopped over Ino's body. Sakura was crying, obviously thinking the same thing Ino had. It made Ino smile knowing that even with their rivalry, she and Sakura still cared for each other. Inoichi looked at Ino's body and placed a hand upon her forehead. "You still there sweetheart?"

"Yeah daddy, but what's going on?" Ino was smart enough to notice that even though Inoichi was talking to her, he couldn't see her. Even more, when Inoichi placed his hand upon her body, Ino felt it.

"You most likely damaged your spine with that fall baby girl. It sent your body into shock and your mind instantly tried to eject itself from your body to ensure that you would not suffer brain damage. It's an innate ability of our clan, one that we haven't figured out how to do consciously yet. Actually, this is the first time in twenty years this has happened."

"Can you fix this daddy? And my spine?" She asked in fear of being crippled.

"Unfortunately, no. If I try to pull your mind back into your body before we find out what's wrong with you physically, your mind will attempt to eject itself again and that may cause it to reject your body all together. You'll be the literal definition of a ghost."

"But...but what am I supposed to do then? I don't want to be a ghost daddy!" She sobbed.

"Calm down baby girl and listen. There is one person I know of who can fix this, but it may be weeks, probably even months before I would even be able to get into contact with her, and that's if we're lucky."

"Who is it daddy? I don't care how long it takes, as long as we fix this!"

Inoichi sighed. "Then we need to find out where Tsunade Senju of the Sannin is."

* * *

**A/N Once again, another chapter cut short because I wasn't really happy with how this was progressing. I honestly would just rather skip straight to the mission to Wave but it wouldn't make sense to leave so much open between one or two weeks. **

**Thanks to everyone who has been enjoying this tale, both old and new readers, and a promised shout out to Leaf Ranger, one of my longest readers and friend, as promised 8 months ago, lol. I would like to keep referencing other stories within the story, so any suggestions or request will be considered. **

**Anyway, I'm going to attempt to start the next chapter. **


	6. First Act Scene 2 The Translucent Girl

**This chapter, though long, is merely a branch between last chapter and the next. Once again, bear with me as I attempt to put that spark back into my writing.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: First Act Scene 2 of the Translucent Girl**

"I'm a freaking ghost." Ino cried as she floated in front of a mirror but saw nothing at all. She floated upside down and right side up repeatedly in a cartwheel motion, tears falling both up and down as she did.

Inoichi sighed as he heard his daughter still complaining as she had been doing for the past ten minutes upon discovery of her body. "Ino, why don't you look at the bright side. You may be the first person to figure out what exactly this ability of ours does. Why don't you go experiment?" He called, hoping to just get the girl out of his hair while he had field medics take Ino's body to the hospital.

"I don't wanna!" Ino whined again, this time reminding Inoichi of how she had been when she was younger. Those were words he had hoped he wouldn't ever hear again, but unfortunately, his memory proved to be just as good as you would expect a Yamanaka's to be.

(-)

"_Ino, eat your vegetables, it'll make sure you keep your figure!" Inoichi tried to feed his four year old daughter some broccoli but she turned away vehemently. _

"_I don't wanna!" _

"_Ino, eat your meat, the protein will keep you strong and fit!" Inoichi coaxed his five year old daughter. _

"_I don't wanna!"_

"_Ino, eat something please, you're wasting away to nothing!" Inoichi pleaded with his 12 year old daughter. _

"_I don't wanna! Now look out, our genin test is today!" _

(-)

Inoichi sweat dropped. _'Was that last week?'_

Ino had heard her father's thoughts and rolled her eyes before floating towards the door of the flower shop. "I'm going already daddy, geez!" She threw her hands up in frustration though she knew he wouldn't see it. Without so much as stopping, she flew right through the wall of the shop.

_'Stupid water being slippery. Stupid daddy being so nonchalant. Stupid ability to walk through walls like a real...ghost...'_ Ino paused as she floated in the middle of the road. To confirm the realization she had just come too, somebody threw a ball that soared right through her. She hadn't even felt it. "HOLY CRAP, THIS IS AWESOME!"

Before she could think more on what she could do with her new 'ability', the boy whom had thrown the ball ran right through Ino as well. This time, she did feel something. Her entire being pulsed outwards and she could feel her heart rate rise exponentially. A bright flash occurred as this happened as well, and when Ino could see again, she had no control of her body.

She felt really short and stubby. For some reason, she was running after a ball with her hands outstretched. When she reached the ball, she noticed it was the same one that had flown right through her. However, the hands that picked up the ball were far too small and chubby to be her own. "I got it!" She felt herself call out, however it most definitely wasn't her voice. She wasn't a boy, and she had already hit puberty.

As the body that wasn't hers began to run back towards the other waiting children, Ino tried to stop herself from moving. After just a moment of resistance, another flash blinded Ino and she was on the ground, watching as the little boy she had just entered ran towards his friends. She floated back up right and patted herself down.

"What the hell was that?" She wondered aloud, frustrated that more weird things were happening to her. However, she wasn't so naive as to not realize that she may had just figured out yet another ability that came with being a ghost. _'It was almost like our shintenshin jutsu, but I couldn't control his body. Or at least, I didn't try. He didn't know I was there either so he wouldn't have been able to push me out with his will. That's pretty neat.' _

Ino made sure to avoid running into people again, however, not being sure if the ability had any negative repercussions or not. She would really enjoy getting to understand the ability however, she was still more worried about getting back into her own body than into someone else...

"SASUKE-KUN!" Ino immediately thought and flew straight upwards. She spun around in a circle with a birds eye view of the village until she found the Uchiha compound. Just as she was about to fly over and see if he was home, Ino heard her father's voice again.

"Ino, go to the Hokage's office and see if you can communicate with him. I'll be there in a short while."

Looking down, Ino saw her father walking with two medic nin. They had a stretcher, no doubt holding her body, but the sheet was pulled all the way over as if she were truly dead. The sight made her stomach drop and the fear of being dead returned to her full force. Screw going to see Sasuke, her father was right. "B-but how daddy? How will he hear me? Only you can hear me right now!"

"You should still be able to use shintenshin baby girl, but I'm not completely sure. You're pretty bright, Ino, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Ino wanted to scream that it was total bull, but not trying was worse than failing. With only a huff, Ino changed course and flew towards the Hokage's office. Inoichi knew she was gone as she said nothing else. What he really wanted was for Ino to stay away from the hospital, stay away from Sasuke, and actually experiment with being disembodied. This was a rare chance for the Yamanaka clan to possibly develop another technique that would put their name out their again.

With Ino, she realized she could fly extremely fast. Usually it would take at least five or six minutes to reach the Hokage's office from their flower shop, and that was through roof hopping. Being able to fly, Ino reached it in thirty seconds flat. Without slowing again, Ino flew right through the walls of the office. However, she hadn't expected so many people to be in the office at the time either. She saw the Jonin sensei for Sakura's team, Kakashi she remembered his name being. The Hokage was at his desk, Iruka-sensei was there for some reason and Naruto had just sat down. Having taken in all of the patrons of the office in literally moments, Ino didn't have enough time to slow herself down before she flew straight into Naruto.

Once again a bright flash blinded her and she felt her presence spreading outwards. Her heart rate sped up and when she was able to see again, she was looking directly at the Hokage.

_'Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen!'_ Ino cried and immediately began trying to leave Naruto's mind. However, no matter how much she tried to remove herself from his mind, she couldn't so much as hear the outside world. It was as if something was blocking her from getting out. _'What the hell? Shit, I knew this ability was too good to be true!'_

"Naruto-kun, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me. There will be dire consequences to any lie that you tell me." The Hokage's voice spoke to Ino/Naruto.

Ino stopped struggling as she noticed how tense the atmosphere was. Naruto was scared, she knew. Not because she could feel his emotions. It was because the way the Hokage spoke frightened her as well. _'What the hell did you do now Naruto?'_ She wondered and took in the scene.

"A-alright Hokage-sama..." She felt Naruto tremble.

"What happened to you the night you fought and defeated Mizuki." The Hokage asked. Ino gasped.

"N-Naruto defeated Mizuki-sensei? But how, Mizuki-sensei's a chunin! I thought Iruka-sensei defeated him!" To answer Ino's question and then some, Naruto begin to explain that night...and everything that followed.

Ino was once again trying her hardest to break free of Naruto's mind. This was all too much for her. Naruto could see the future? Plus he had the Kyubi inside of him! On top of that, the things that he had said were most definitely within the books she had read. "This can't be real! There's...there's no way Naruto can see into the future!"

"**Soul raping brat. Stop your miserable screeching and come to me."** A booming voice shook Ino's very existence, and she dropped to her knees. To her surprise, she was no longer seeing through Naruto's eyes. She was in a long sewer like corridor. However, the voice took the forefront of her thoughts as she knew exactly what it was that was calling out to her. If what Naruto told the Hokage was true, then the voice could only belong to …

"K-Kyubi?" Ino whimpered out, realizing she would have wet herself if this was the real world.

(-)

Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital...

"Um...Inoichi-sama, sir..." A Nurse, Ms. Naniko Aika, called to the Head Yamanaka. Inoichi was just finishing up legal documents to have Ino admitted into the hospital for an undetermined amount of time.

"Yes, what is it?" Inoichi handed another nurse the documentation and entered the room where his daughter was.

"Um...I don't know why...but your daughter just wet herself."

Inoichi paled and turned away. "That's...that's very unfortunate. Please undress her and burn the clothes."

"Sir?" Ms. Aika asked in confusion.

"If anyone finds out about this and Ino finds out, she'll kill everyone and then herself. Please be rid of the evidence."

"Yes sir!" Naniko cried, now seeing how dire the situation was.

(-)

"**Very smart, brat, now make your way to me if you want to live."**

Every fiber of Ino's existence was screaming not to do it. However, she was positive that the Kyubi would kill her either way. On a whim, she began to swiftly float through the sewer like space, rounding corner after corner with only one direction to go. Soon, she came to an opening that was of a large red cell with a seal on it.

"**Welcome, Yamanaka brat." **Kurama spoke directly to her now, his voice no longer echoing around her. Ino trembled and swallowed in fear before finding the sliver of courage to speak.

"Wh-what do you want from me?"

Kurama walked directly in front of the cell, letting Ino see just how large and menacing he really was. He sat on his hind legs and let his tails sway around him. Ino, not wanting to look the demon in the eyes, watched its tails hypnotically. However, that's when she noticed something.

"Only seven?" She asked aloud on accident, though she realized as she was, thinking would have done no different.

Before Kurama could answer her, everything around them changed once more. In an instant, Ino was surrounded by rapidly flashing images. Each one seemed to be set within a large picture frame all their own, but they were moving as if they were movies. She looked around in horror, afraid that the Kyubi was doing something to harm her. However, she saw the fox's eyes shifting rapidly and taking in all of the images as well. Calming down just a bit, Ino began to look at the images and put two and two together.

"The...the future?" She wondered aloud. Then some of the pictures began to burn away and in their places, new pictures formed. That part, she didn't understand.

As she raked her brain for a meaning, she saw a picture that showed Naruto sitting on Hokage mountain with Hinata on his lap. The scene made her blush and she smiled that Hinata would finally get her chance to be with Naruto like she had wanted. However, the scene burned away and revealed Naruto sitting with Sakura in the same position. Ino's eyes widened and anger filled her slightly. _'Is it showing what's going to happen or what could happen? Sakura did say she spent the night with him...'_

Once more her thoughts were interrupted as the scene burned again. Ino's jaw would have hit the ground if it physically could. Sitting on Naruto's lap this time was Ino herself, a look of sheer joy and bliss shining through. The scene did not remain long and burned away to reveal other different scenarios, and though Ino didn't want to take it all in, she somehow was able to retain all of the information. Something that stung at her heart was watching her and Shikamaru's father be killed by the Juubi. All of it was clear to Ino now. Naruto really could see into the future, and things were changing because of him. Even with a clear concise view on everything, Ino forced herself to remember the picture of herself, Hinata, and Sakura with Naruto, more so than dwelling on her father's and uncle's demise.

"That's...that's just...not possible..." She tried to make herself believe.

"**You are quite lucky. I was going to eat your soul, but now that I know the truth, I suppose Naruto could use a mate like you."**

"I-I'm not Naruto's mate! I don't even like him much! I like..." Ino paused. "I used to like Sasuke-kun..." The images of Sasuke leaving and then returning just on a whim pissed her off. She wouldn't dare say she liked Sasuke anymore. However, she was still having a hard time believing and processing so much information anyway. Frustrated, Ino pounded the ground and shed tears. "Why can't I get out of here! I don't want to see what Naruto does! I don't want to feel what he does! This is messed up for both of us!"

"**You cannot leave because of this seal, unfortunately."** Kurama answered her. **"Forcing yourself inside of Naruto wasn't very wise. The seal will not let any foreign entity leave him, regardless of if it is me or not." **

"But I didn't force myself in!"

"**Ino, the way you flew in here was like using your soul as a battering ram. Even if Naruto's mental defenses would have been ready to kick into gear, you would have broken them apart with little effort, and probably left the kit in a psychological shit storm."**

Ino frowned. She hadn't tried to break into Naruto's body. She understood that she needed to be more careful about navigating as a ghost too. "How do I get out?"

Kurama did not answer her for a moment. His ears were perked up and she realized he was listening for something. Then he snapped his attention to her, making her flinch at the sudden movement. **"Ino, come into my cage, Naruto will be here in a moment!"**

"Wh-what? I don't want to go in there, you're going to eat my soul!" Ino started panicking. How could she trust the Nine-tailed demon of all things?

"**You saw the truth, so I know you don't believe that! Unless you want to explain to Naruto why you're within his body, I suggest you get in here and hide, now!" **

Ino could feel Naruto's presence coming. Her heart rate picked up again and with only a moment of hesitation, she flew into the Kyubi's cage. On his side, everything was almost pitch black. The air was humid and dank, but the most oppressive thing of all was Kurama's aura. Ino knew she couldn't dare stand as close she was to the Kyubi in real life. It would only prove to suffocate her.

"**Be silent and watch."** Kurama whispered, hiding her with one of his tails. From their distance, she didn't suppose Naruto could see the Kyubi within his cell either. However, the tail that she was hiding behind began to dissolve. Kurama tensed, she noticed, and planted his muzzle into the ground, clasping his paws over his snout. Ino could tell he was holding back from yelping out in pain.

"Wh-what's happening to you?" Ino whispered in a panic. Kurama didn't answer until his entire tail was gone. Being able to see clearly, Ino saw Naruto hugging a red haired woman whom she knew was his mother now and his father, The Fourth Hokage himself. "Whoa..."

Kurama shook himself of the receding pain and stood to his full height. **"Just continue to watch, Ino. You'll know when to come out." **

"**FOR KAMI'S SAKE CAN YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP?" **Kurama suddenly roared, making Ino cringe at the powerful wind that accompanied his roar. Her eyes widened as she watched him stride forward, most likely into the eye sight of the others. Naruto, on the other hand was simply laughing while his parents both looked to have been scared shitless from the roar.

"Kurama's awake!" Naruto called through his laughs.

"**Dammit, can't a guy sleep for three years without disembodied chakra spirits and psychic brats waking him up every two days?"**

Ino sweat dropped, having a feeling that both 'disembodied chakra spirits' and 'psychic brats' referred to her more so than Naruto and his parents. She wanted to call the fox an ass hole but followed its orders and remained silent. Ino felt different emotions as she spied on the conversations of Naruto and his parents.

When Kushina and the Kyubi bantered back and forth she wanted to laugh. When Kurama explained the reason he was losing his tails, she wanted to cry just as Naruto did. However, the scene that showed Naruto and the baby fox made her heart swell with admiration, joy, and sadness. She wanted to run and pick up the kit, but also to hug Naruto. The last thought made her blush a bit.

The thought grew even stronger however as Kurama began to question Naruto about taking care of his kit. Ino could feel the immense emotional pain Naruto was enduring. He was trying his hardest not to cry and Kurama was trying his hardest to get him to let it all out. Kushina and Minato knew what the Kyubi was doing as well and were on standby to comfort him once he broke down. Tears fell from Ino's eyes at the scene. She was understanding more and more what Naruto went through, and on a particularly off-topic side note, wondered if the three authors of the books she had read could see the future as well.

Once Naruto finally did break down, Minato and Kushina instantly began to comfort him. Ino hugged herself, feeling even more as if she were watching something she shouldn't be. After a short while, the cage to the Kyubi's cell suddenly opened and Kurama walked out to join the family. A bit after that and Naruto was soundly asleep.

"You can come out now Ms. Yamanaka." Minato called to her. She gasped, not having realized that he knew she was there. However, she should have known that the Fourth Hokage of all people would be able to sense her. Ino walked out, holding one of her arms sheepishly.

"I thought I felt someone in there, but I couldn't be sure." Kushina whispered while giving Ino a welcoming smile.

"I-I'm sorry to intrude. Now that the seal is down, can I leave?" Ino questioned. Minato shook his head sadly.

"Unfortunately, I didn't remove the seal. It's still active." He pointed to the ground where the paper seal that had been on the bars merely attached itself to the floor and kept glowing. "I've only allowed Kurama some breathing space."

"**Which I'm thankful for Namikaze-teme."** Kurama acknowledged politely.

"Your wel-hey, wait a minute!" Minato's voice rose. Kushina bopped her husband over the head.

"Shush you idiot! Don't wake Naruto up yet!" She scolded in a whisper. Ino smiled again, however, the scene kind of reminded her of Naruto and Sakura than anything else. The thought made her sad just a bit. Kushina looked to Ino and shook her head. "I hate to admit that my personality may be very similar to Sakura's, but believe me when I say that I love Minato with all my heart. If Sakura could find it in herself to truly love Naruto as much as I love Minato, then I would approve of a relationship between them. However, I can't see that happening in the near future, and apparently neither does Naruto."

Ino nodded at the explanation. She had forgotten that even while thinking, the others could hear her. So instead of beating around the question that she was going to end up thinking anyway, she asked it aloud. "What...what about me?" She blushed at her words. She wasn't asking because she wanted to be with Naruto. It was only because she couldn't avoid thinking of the question anyway.

Kushina smirked sadly. "Unfortunately, I feel the same way about you Ino. You're just as infatuated with the thought of Sasuke as Sakura is. I wish Mikoto were here to put that boy straight, but that's not to be. And you and everyone else stroking his ego twenty-four seven isn't helping. I think both you and Sakura need to take some time to understand what being a kunoichi is first before you think about dating."

"I'm definitely not infatuated with Sasuke anymore!" She said quickly. "After everything I've seen, I don't think I'll be able to look at anyone else the same, especially Naruto and Sasuke..." She sighed. What was unspoken, yet heard by all, was that she wouldn't be able to look at herself the same either.

"**There is more for you to see as well."** Kurama spoke through telepathy, making it so his booming voice was only heard by the three awake people. He obviously didn't want Mount Kushina blowing its top on him.

Minato nodded in agreement. "When Naruto awakes, there are a few more things that we will need to discuss with him Ino. I don't think he's ready to know that you also know the truth. We'll be able to do that later."

The Yondaime's words made Ino's stomach drop, as she realized she truly would be stuck inside of Naruto for a long time. "Wait, so you'll still be here even when Naruto wakes up?"

Both of Naruto's parents nodded. "I don't really understand it, but I don't feel the chakra that me and Kushina left inside of Naruto diminishing at all. It's only a theory, but I don't think we'll be disappearing until the points in time where Naruto was supposed to remove the seal and fight Kurama."

Ino thought about it. "So when Pein destroys the village and when Naruto is at the Falls of Truth with Mr. Killer Bee."

"Your perceptions really good, Ino. You should use it more often." Kushina joked. Ino blushed at her words and looked away with a giggle.

"Geez, you remind me of..." Ino stopped speaking, but couldn't stop her thoughts. 'My mom...' She thought and instantly flinched as she realized they had heard.

"Ino..." Kushina started, but Ino waved her hand.

"It's fine, Mrs. Namikaze-sama. I was just remembering her..." Ino explained.

"I didn't know your mother personally, I'm sorry, and Kushina is just fine. We can talk later if you wish."

Ino just nodded, her mood having fallen from the single thought.

**"Naruto will awaken soon. I believe it best you escort Ino down into his memories."** Kurama suggested.

Ino looked up in confusion. "Why are we going to his memories? I don't want to intrude on Naruto's personal space more than I already have!"

"I think it's a bit too late for that, Ino." Minato said with a chuckle. "Besides, you've already learned of his deepest secrets."

"He's right. Plus, there are some things that you need to see about his past that weren't shown in his visions. And some things that you may have forgotten yourself." Kushina closed her eyes and a cluster of chains wrapped around themselves right next to Ino. As the chains began to glow white hot with a red outline, the light took the shape of Kushina. As the light faded, a clone of Kushina stood next to Ino.

"Come, we can have that talk too." The clone offered.

As Naruto stirred, Ino knew she had no choice. With a sad sigh, she began to follow the clone as they made their way deeper inside of Naruto's subconscious.

* * *

Kushina's clone remained silent as they walked through what now appeared to be a giant movie theatre within Naruto's mind. Ino hadn't used her families mind walk jutsu very often but the few times she had always yielded the same result. Ino would simply be walking in an ethereal plane and the persons memories would be slightly translucent images that flew about the area. Never had she seen such an expansive and well organized memory hall before.

"This...this place is amazing..." She whispered. Looking about some more, she saw that each room had a picture of what would be playing inside of each memory. They were even labeled. Some were 'Romantic Comedy', usually showing a picture of Naruto and Sakura with Sakura hitting Naruto and Naruto smiling with hearts in his eyes as if he enjoyed it. A lot of them were straight 'Comedy' and Ino recognized them as times Naruto had pulled pranks. The warm feeling Ino was getting from the place would slowly start sinking however.

Soon enough, most of the genre titles began to start with 'Drama' and even worse, 'Horror'. Ino swallowed at the thought of what could be showing in some of those rooms.

"We won't go in there just yet. We'll start with the things that you need to see first." Kushina's clone spoke sternly. The warmth that she had initially been showing Ino seemed to have drained away. Ino just nodded and continued to follow Kushina as she turned into a room with the genre 'Drama'. She saw the picture that sat in front of each room showed Naruto sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest as Sakura and Ino glared at him from above. She swallowed and realized why Kushina seemed to be a bit pensive.

As she expected, the room was also in the shape of an actual movie theater. Kushina led Ino to the center isle and sat right in the center seats. It felt weird to be within such a place while knowing she was still within Naruto's mind.

Also like the actual theater, the lights dimmed. Both Ino and Kushina would sweat drop however as the screen before them actually started showing previews.

* * *

"_Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cleave you in two right now?" The voice of Zabuza Momochi asked on the black screen. There was a pause. _

"_Because I've got too many precious people to protect to die right now." Naruto's voice responded. _

_The screen flashed to life showing Zabuza standing with his sword pointed at Naruto and Naruto standing with his back to the camera. The two were on the Great Naruto Bridge as it had yet to be named. No one else was in sight at the moment. _

"_Why should I care about your precious people brat?" Zabuza sneered. The camera would switch to show Naruto's face as he looked down. It zoomed in slowly building tension. Naruto's eyes would snap forward and glow blue. _

"_Because you and Haku are part of them." _

_The scene completely switched again as epic music began to play in the background. "Kakashi-sensei, we need to get everyone to the bridge now!" Naruto shouted at what appeared to be a time before his confrontation against Zabuza. He had just rushed into Tazuna's house._

"_I don't believe that's an option anymore!" Kakashi sighed as the door to Tazuna's house opened all the way and showed Naruto and his team, as well as Kurenai and her team looking at Naruto with worried expressions. _

"_Fuck..." Naruto called with panic still in his eyes. The scene would switch once again, showing a birds eye view of a clearing. _

"_...It's hard to believe, Haku-chan, but it's all the truth. How could I possibly have known the things I've told you?" Naruto asked. The camera would show Haku on his knees and crying, while hugging himself. _

"_I..." Haku began. However, he looked up with tears falling still, but his face shown pure rage. "I believe that you are a spy! If you're here to hurt Zabuza-sama, then I will show you no mercy Naruto-kun!" Haku took out several senbon and stood to his feet. _

"_Haku..." Naruto spoke his name sadly. Haku flinched but grit his teeth. _

"_Don't do that!" He screamed and launched the senbon at the camera. _

_The scene would fade to black as the music suddenly stopped. _

"_You better have a damn good reason for dragging me here Jiraiya!" A woman's voice that made both Ino's and Kushina's eyes go wide called out. _

"_Believe me, hime. That kid is reason enough." Jiraiya responded. _

_The images came back and began to show fast scenes as the music started up again and built towards a climax. From what Ino saw, it showed Naruto and Zabuza clashing on the bridge, kunai against giant sword. Then it showed Sasuke upside down, flaring through hand signs before unleashing a giant fireball at a target off screen. It showed Kurenai-sensei get knocked off her feet by a powerful blast of snow only to be caught by Kakashi bridal style, making the female Jonin blush. It showed Sakura and Hinata standing in a clearing facing each other before they both dropped into a fighting stance and Hinata activated her byakugan. Then it showed the silhouette of a girl with a long ponytail walking out of the moonlight towards a wide eyed Naruto before the music finally reached its peak._

_'Is that...is that me?' Ino wondered. _

_The scene went black and immediately began to freeze with ice. The ice shattered and showed the title of the movie in big frozen words. _

"_**Mission To Wave!"**_

* * *

As the preview ended, both Kushina and Ino stared at the screen with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Kushina was the first to speak.

"That was epic! I can't wait until that comes out!" She called.

"It's not a real movie!" Ino face palmed. Kushina just shrugged.

"And now, your feature presentation." Naruto's voice echoed in the theater, drawing both kunoichi's attention back to the screen.

To Ino's relief, the image started just like how she would have viewed any other memory. There was no title screen, music, or effects. It was simply showing what Naruto had experienced back then.

* * *

_As it was, it was showing Naruto as a child, probably only around seven or eight years old. The view was oddly not from Naruto's perspective though. Ino chalked it up to a subconscious look at things since people could never truly remember their past with one hundred percent detail. Either way Naruto was sitting on the swing that sat outside of the academy. A date flashed on screen, making Ino sigh that the memory did have effects, however, as she noticed the date, she understood what was going on. _

"It's the day we all started the academy." She said, though she wasn't very familiar with the events of that particular day.

"_Leave her alone, or do I have to teach you all a lesson again!" Ino's younger voice rang out from nearby. Naruto looked up and spotted Ino standing defiantly against a group of girls with Sakura cowering behind her. At the head of the group, Ino noticed a young girl named Ami that had been in their class. _

"Geez, I remember this now." Ino said with disdain, only to have Kushina shush her.

"_You can't do nothing stupid Yamanaka! If you do, I'll tell Iruka-sensei on you!" Ami screeched._

_Ino grit her teeth. "I'll tell on you first for picking on Sakura!" _

"_I-Ino, it's alright..." Sakura called from behind her friend. "Let's just go to my house please?" _

_Ino growled but seemed as if she would listen to Sakura. That was, until Ami threw dirt in Ino's face. Not a moment after and Ami had punched Ino right in the face, knocking the girl off her feet. The other girls joined in and began to kick Ino while she was down. Sakura was screaming for them to stop, but the girls just grabbed her by the hair and began kicking her as well. Naruto's heart skipped a beat as he watched it happening. Without hesitation, he stood to his feet. He knew he couldn't fight the girls, for more reason than one. However, in his fear that the two girls that were getting attacked would be seriously hurt, Naruto drew on a power that he didn't realize he had. _

_For a brief moment, Naruto's eyes began to glow red. He made a single hand sign and in a silent plume of smoke, transformed himself into Iruka-sensei. Walking over to the two downed girls, he shouted. "Hey! What are you doing! Get off of them right now!" _

_The girls froze in fear as they heard Iruka's voice. _

Ino, in the movie theater suddenly gasped. She remembered completely now. Tears welled in her eyes as she knew how the memory would end.

"_I-Iruka-sensei! This isn't what it looks like!" Ami sniffed and pretended as if she were about to cry. 'Iruka' just glared. _

"_You needed a whole group of people to mess with two little girls! You're pathetic! All of you are expelled! Get off of school property and never come back!" Naruto yelled in Iruka's voice. The entire group of girls gasped and began to beg for Iruka not to. Now, all of them truly did start crying. However, Naruto once again pulled upon the power that he didn't know he had and activated another jutsu. _

"_GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" He screamed out using Iruka's big headed jutsu. The girls scattered after that. Once they were all gone, he turned to the two down and sobbing girls. In another silent plume of smoke, Naruto returned to normal. _

"_Are you two alright?" He asked kneeling next to them. Ino was the first to try and sit up. _

"_Wh-who are you?" She asked. She had seen him in their class, and was pretty sure she had seen him around the village a few times, but she didn't remember his name. Even more, the boy looked away in worry at her question. _

"_That's...that's not important right now. I should go get Iruka-sensei-" Naruto was cut off as Ino threw her arms around his neck in a hug and fresh tears flooded her face. _

"_We...we're gonna be ugly now! Look what they did to our faces!" Ino cried. Naruto was awkward from the position and nudged Ino off of him without offending the girl. Looking at her face, he saw that she had a black eye and a bruise on both her forehead and cheek. Her nose was bleeding and seemed a little pressed upwards, giving her the image of having slightly larger than normal nostrils._

"_You're still pretty, Ino-chan. One of the most pretty girls I've ever seen. Sakura-chan too!" Naruto said innocently, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ino's face flushed scarlet and she slowly stopped crying, wiping her tears but saying nothing. _

_Sakura began to stir and looked up at them, sniffling still. She had a big cut on her forehead, going up towards her scalp giving her the look of a larger than average forehead. She also had a black eye and bruises. When she saw who Ino was talking to, she shot up quick. _

"_N-Naruto-baka! Go away, we're not supposed to talk to you, monster!" Sakura cried and hugged Ino's back, as if trying to hide herself from him. She spoke in more fear than loathing though. _

"_Wh-what?" Naruto stuttered, fear evident in his face. Ino rose an eyebrow and craned her neck in Sakura's direction._

"_What are you talking about Sakura?" _

"_Mommy said Naruto Uzumaki is a terrible boy! She said he turns into a monster at night and tries to steal away little girls like us so he can do dirty things to us and then eat us! That's why he's always alone, because he eats everybody that gets close to him!" Sakura's glare at Naruto did turn into scorn after that, and unfortunately, Ino's gaze followed as it landed back on him. _

"_That's not true! You're mom is a stupid liar!" _

_Ino gasped and then on impulse lashed forward with a punch, hitting Naruto right in the eye. Naruto fell back on his butt with a look of shock and hurt on his face. He looked up at Ino with tears in his eyes not from just the pain, but from the act itself. Ino stood up and glared at Naruto, though she was also conflicted on why she had hit him too. But she stood by what she was going to say._

"_Mrs. Haruno is the nicest lady ever! If you call her stupid and a liar, then you must really be a bad guy! Go away you stupid monster and leave me and Sakura alone!" Ino yelled and for good measure kicked at Naruto, making him jump up in fear. However, as Ino looked into his eyes, it wasn't fear that he was showing. It was genuine hurt and sorrow. Naruto clenched his fist and looked down, biting his lip._

"_I HATE YOU! YOU LOOK LIKE A STUPID PIG INO! AND SAKURA'S STUPID FOREHEAD IS BIGGER THAN STUPID INO-PIG'S BUTT!" With his shout, Naruto turned on heel and started to run._

* * *

The scene would fade with that, ending the memory. Ino had actually shed a single tear as the words were spoken and the actions of her younger self shown as bright as day before her. Kushina shook her head in disgust at the scene. However, she saw Ino's tear and remained silent, awaiting Ino's further reactions.

"I...I remember now. When I thought about that day, I forgot that it wasn't really Iruka-sensei that had come to save us. It was Naruto..." Ino closed her eyes and held back more tears as her awful words and treatment of Naruto repeated in her head, heard by Kushina non-the less. "That was awful...how could me and Sakura be so stupid as to believe that Naruto was a monster? He called Sakura's mom stupid and a liar and it just...made something snap in me. I didn't believe Sakura until he said that."

"Why? If Mrs. Haruno is so biased as to call Naruto a monster, then why would you believe she was the 'nicest lady ever'?" Kushina questioned with a knowing gaze. She understood the scene better than she let show, and hoped Ino would see it too.

Ino began to think of the time she spent with Sakura and Mrs. Haruno. Whenever they were together, Sakura's mom was always coddling them both. She pampered Sakura just as much as her father pampered her. She would take them out for ice cream and to the movies, and then cook them dinner before taking Ino home. She genuinely seemed like a nice person to Ino. However, she also began to remember the times she had been around Mrs. Haruno when they would see Naruto. The smile that was on the woman's face would fall and she would glare at Naruto, or sometimes even sneer angrily. Those were times in which she were slightly afraid of Mrs. Haruno.

"I..." Ino knew the answer now. "I thought she was nice because she treated me like her own daughter...because I don't have a mother and she was the closes surrogate to what I thought a mother was supposed to be like."

Kushina nodded and stood up. "Yet, that doesn't make you feel better about what you said and did to Naruto does it?"

Ino shook her head quickly. "Not one bit! I want to go in there and beat the shit out of me and Sakura for being so stupid! And I want to apologize to Naruto too..."

"You'll get your chance with that one Ino. But come on, this isn't over yet. There are a few more memories that Naruto has of you in a not so graceful light." Kushina's voice was once again neutral. Ino swallowed, not wanting to see anymore.

As they exited one room and headed towards another, Ino looked up at the genre again. "Wait...that was just a drama? That wasn't horror?" Ino asked.

"Not even close." Kushina sneered. "The things that Naruto has under horror will make you piss yourself in fear and kill yourself in sorrow."

Kushina said nothing else as she led Ino down the long movie hall. Ino looked down, not wanting to see the pictures and genre anymore. Trying her hardest to refrain from thinking at all, Ino accidentally ended up replaying the scene in her head.

(-)

"_Mrs. Haruno is the nicest lady ever! If you call her stupid and a liar, then you must really be a bad guy! Go away you stupid monster and leave me and Sakura alone!" Ino kicked at Naruto again, however, he didn't budge. Instead, he began to cry just as she and Sakura were. _

"_Why Ino-chan? I'm not a monster! Please don't send me away!" Naruto cried out to her. Ino looked at Naruto and held her chest. _

"_I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun! I know you're not a monster, I don't know what came over me!" Ino said back. _

"_Then why did you say it? Why are you trying to hurt me like everyone else?" Naruto said wiping his eyes._

"_I'm not Naruto-kun, I swear! I'll never do anything to hurt you again! And I'll stop everyone else from hurting you too!" _

"_Everyone?" A voice called from behind Ino and she turned around only to see the entire village of Konoha standing with torches and various weaponry. Ino snapped back to reality at that point, having walked right into Kushina. _

(-)

"That was...interesting." Kushina stated with the first smirk Ino had seen on her face since they had entered into Naruto's memories. Kushina noticed that Ino had started calling her son Naruto_-kun_. Ino would have blushed but her mind was racing.

"You...I felt you! I didn't go inside you just now!" Ino said in amazement.

"That's probably because we're both ethereal right now." The red haired Uzumaki shrugged.

"And...is that what you were talking about?" Ino asked. "The horrors...are they...what the villagers do to Naruto-kun?"

Kushina's smile left again and she turned from Ino. "...Some of them, yes."

Ino's fist clinched subconsciously. Without following Kushina, Ino turned around and looked up at the genres again. Seeing the first horror label, she ran right in without hesitation. Kushina wasn't surprised. She let the trace of a sad smile form on her face again as she followed Ino in. "Looks like we're making progress." She whispered to herself.

* * *

**Present time...**

Unbeknownst to Naruto as he exited the Hokage's office, Ino resided within his body along with his parents and Kurama. At the same time that Naruto had been speaking with the Hokage, Kakashi, Iruka, and Jiraiya, Ino had been going through his memories. Blissfully unaware of such, Naruto stepped out into the post-rain sunshine and took a deep breath. The smell of the lingering storm made him feel just as refreshed as he had that morning.

"This is going to be good!" Naruto thought as he made his way to training ground 7. Kakashi had told him that they would be having a training session that day, and that he would retrieve Sakura and Sasuke after he performed a few quick errands. Naruto shook his head at the thought. "Perverted sensei probably just wants to ask ero-sennin to autograph his porn collection."

Naruto made no detours himself as he ran towards the training fields. His mind was still on how everything had gone so well in the Hokage's office. He had allies in this fight now, and it truly made him happy. Saving the future seemed more and more possible. Also lingering in his thoughts, however, was the image of the three girls that had been with him on Hokage mountain. Naruto frowned and slowed to a stop, reaching the field. With a heavy sigh, he walked over to a tree and sat down.

"I want to believe that it means I'll be able to be with Hinata-chan...but why would I be with Sakura? And what the hell was I doing with Ino at all?" Naruto groaned. "I don't understand this anymore. The future keeps changing on me so I don't know what to plan for. And what happened to that 'Somethings aren't meant to be changed' bull crap? It seems like EVERYTHING has changed already."

A small breeze picked up, blowing gently over the area. Naruto calmed down from the natural occurrence, finding the wind to be his favorite element, even before he had known about his affinity. The wind didn't let anything stop it as it traveled, going any and everywhere. Even water had to follow a set path in its flow. The freedom of the wind made Naruto think of Hinata again.

"I still haven't saved her exactly. I...I want to tell her now. I don't want to wait any longer." Naruto closed his eyes and pictured Hinata's beautiful smile. It made him smile as well as it was directed at him.

However, the image of Sakura hugging him after the Gaara retrieval mission flashed into his head. He could vaguely feel it as well. It was a genuine and actual hug, the first real one that showed true affection from her. Naruto shivered at the image, only because he actually kind of liked it.

Finally, the image of Ino when they were younger popped into his head. It was the day they had started in the academy. Naruto had just told Ino he thought she was pretty, albeit, he said the same thing to Sakura too. Ino, with her hair short and picturesquely framing her face looked down and blushed. It was almost as adorable as Hinata when she smiled.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Naruto thought as he shook all of the images away. "What the hell did I do to start seeing Sakura and especially Ino like this? This just doesn't make any sense..."

"It's called the domino effect, Naruto." Jiraiya appeared before Naruto in a swirl of leaves.

"Ero-sennin, what are you doing here?" Naruto called, a bit happy to see his sensei again. Then his words registered. "Domino effect?"

"Stop calling me that, gaki. And yes, the domino effect. Every time you do something to change the future, it causes other variables that can have the same effect as well."

"I don't understand..."

"Let's say you're the first domino Naruto. When you are pushed forward in a row of other dominoes, what happens?"

"The other dominoes start falling, duh." Naruto spoke without sounding condescending. He was still trying to figure out what Jiraiya was getting at.

"At a certain point, the lanes of dominoes may become two. When the row that you pushed hits two dominoes at once from separate lanes, it cause two separate rows of dominoes to start falling. This can multiply infinitely in an open space."

Naruto rose an eyebrow, almost understanding what Jiraiya was trying to say but not quite. Jiraiya noticed and sighed.

"Look gaki, you changed one thing that effected someone else. Because they changed, they could effect other people as well. By using the rasengan before it was time, you changed Iruka and Hokage-sama's future. By changing them, they changed Kakashi and my future. From what you told us about the bell test, you completing the bell test must have changed your teammates. Get what I'm saying now? Your actions aren't the only ones that will change the future anymore Naruto."

Naruto had understood it partway through. It was so obvious! The future that he saw the very first time was what would have happened had he not performed the rasengan that night or used Kyubi's chakra. Or maybe even further, it was what would have happened if Kurama never gave Naruto a tail of his chakra.

_'No, because I would be dead then...'_ A chill went down Naruto's spine as a very vivid and daunting image flashed into his mind.

"No...the future I saw...was if Mizuki-teme's shuriken never hit me..." Naruto saw it clearly. The shuriken had struck someone. But it wasn't Naruto.

It was Iruka.

The revelation would not have worried Naruto. That is, if the voice he had heard before wouldn't have spoken up.

"_Something's aren't meant to be changed..."_

Naruto knew immediately that he should have killed Mizuki. Because Iruka-sensei was still in danger.

* * *

**A/N I honestly did not expect Ino's part to go on that long. It was supposed to be done in the last chapter, however, I see that would not have been a very good idea either. Anyway, thanks again for reading, both old and new readers. I wanted to put this chapter up as soon as possible due to the Ino scene so I could move on with the story. **

**I'm trying my hardest to establish all three girls parts in the story without moving too fast, but with the amount of things changing for everyone, it's getting harder to do without taking up a lot time that could be dedicated towards the actual plot line. **

**Forgive me for an obviously rushed ending and terrible cliffhanger, but I was debating on leaving this as a strictly Ino-oriented chapter, and I don't think many people would have liked that. **

**Well, with a blazing return like this, I suppose I should keep the momentum going and get started on the next chapter. (Already 4000 words into the next chapter before I posted this.)**


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